ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) — New York’s State’s Parks and Recs police officers are responsible for protecting our parks, beaches, trails and more. The department is looking for the next class of officers. It’s not your typical nine to five job, according to Captain Christina Hall with the New York State Park Police.

“You can do so many different things on any given day, you could have to hop on an ATV, you could have to hop on a boat to do a rescue in the Niagara river. I think it’s the diversity of the job. It’s never the same day,” she said.

The Department oversees 250 parks, historic sites, trails, boat launches and more. Last year, the state welcomed almost 80 million visitors from around the world to these sites, but they need more people who love the outdoors and are willing to serve the state. “We are anticipating running academy next year, so we need to recruit several hundred candidates in order to get qualified candidates to do the rigorous process of selection,” said Hall.

That process includes an application, agility performance test and six months in academy where candidates will learn all things law enforcement. “You know, from regular classes, to firearms, defensive tactics, all that sort of stuff and then after their traineeship, they would do field training with experienced officers for approximately ten weeks and then they would finish out their year of probation in a zone somewhere across the state of New York,” explained Hall.

Candidates must be at least 20 years old and no older than 35 by June of 2024. However, if they spent time on military duty that will be subtracted from their age if they’re over 35. The position also requires patrolling rain or shine. “We’re on boats, ATVs, snowmobile’s, so you need to be able to multitask, you need to have some inner courage, you need to be able to work with the public and to interact with the public and have good people skills as well,” said Hall.

Applications must be submitted by September 30, 2023. For more information you can visit parks.ny.gov.