New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle U - Division of Criminal Justice Services › Chapter I - Law Enforcement Services › Subchapter A - Municipal Police Training Council › Article 1 - Standards for Municipal Police Officer Candidates › Part 6000 - Medical And Physical Fitness Standards And Procedures For Police Officer Candidates › Section 6000.7 - Required medical standards; potentially disqualifying conditions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
The MPTC establishes the following medical standards
						  which shall be used in evaluating whether a candidate can, with or without
						  reasonable accommodations, perform the essential functions of the position. The
						  existence of any one of the following conditions is only to be considered
						  potentially disqualifying. Each police agency must consider the medical
						  standard to ensure that it is job-related and consistent with business
						  necessity with respect to their entry-level police officer position. The
						  examining physician or practitioner must determine, based upon his/her medical
						  judgment, whether the existence of such condition renders the candidate unable
						  to perform the essential functions of an entry-level police officer.
(a) Eyes and vision. Requires a case-by-case
						assessment of each candidate to determine if the candidate is able to perform
						the essential functions of the position. Unless otherwise specified, all
						testing under this subdivision must be administered by a qualified physician or
						practitioner.
(1) Visual acuity. For visual
						acuity, the Snellen test is generally recognized as standard. All candidates
						should have vision better than or equal to 20/30 in each eye. If a candidate
						must use corrective lenses (glasses or contacts) in order to satisfy the 20/30
						vision standard, then such candidate's uncorrected vision should be no worse
						than 20/100 in each eye.
(2) Color
						perception.
(i) For color perception, only
						the 24-plate edition of the Ishihara Test (1974 or subsequent equivalent
						edition) should be used. Generally, perception of color should be deemed
						acceptable if the candidate correctly reads at least 9 or more of the first 13
						plates of the 24-plate edition of the Ishihara Test. As described in the test
						manual, this test should be given under lighting conditions approximating a
						daylight illuminated room (indirect daylight), and not primarily using tungsten
						or fluorescent lamps. The MacBeth Easel Lamp or the True Daylight Illuminator
						(TDI), which meets the standards specified by the International Commission on
						Illumination, or equivalent may be used.
(ii) If the candidate's color perception is
						deemed unacceptable through the use of said test, and he/she believes the
						results to be incorrect, then such individual must be informed that he/she has
						recourse to additional testing and a facility identified where he/she may, at
						his or her own expense, take the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue Test under the
						following conditions:
(a) The division must be
						notified in writing, with a copy to the appropriate municipal civil service
						agency, of the candidate's intention to take the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue
						Test.
(b) The test must be taken at
						a hospital, medical center, or an academic ophthalmology center having the
						proper equipment as hereafter specified and the notice must set forth the name
						of the institution and the New York State (NYS) licensed optometrist or
						ophthalmologist who will administer the examination.
(c) Written approval, or under extenuating
						circumstances, verbal approval, for the taking of said examination must be
						received from the division by the candidate before the test is administered and
						the test must be administered within 45 days of the mailing date of the
						approval. Such approval shall be granted in every instance provided that the
						division finds that the hospital, medical center or academic ophthalmology
						center at which the candidate proposes to be tested has the capability and
						equipment necessary to perform such test and that the optometrist or
						ophthalmologist who will administer or interpret the test is properly
						qualified. In the event that the division finds the facility at which the
						applicant proposes to be tested is not properly equipped or that the individual
						who is proposed to administer or interpret the test is unqualified, it shall
						direct the candidate to a person and/or facility, as conveniently located as
						practicable, by whom or where such test may be properly administered. Where
						such an alternate test site is directed, the 45-day period referred to above
						shall be adjusted or extended to accommodate the candidate's needs and
						convenience.
(d) If the candidate
						takes and completes the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue Test, the optometrist or
						ophthalmologist administering the test shall set forth in writing the results
						of said test, including the "total error score," the type, nature and degree of
						any apparent confusion axis, and, if available, the percentile rank of the
						total error score with reference to the normal population. The optometrist or
						ophthalmologist shall certify, whether or not the candidate meets the required
						color perception standards. If upon receipt by the division and by the
						appropriate municipal civil service agency, the test results demonstrate that
						the candidate meets said certification, the candidate shall be deemed to have
						met the color perception requirement.
(iii) The test distance stipulated in the
						Ishihara instruction manual is 75 cm (approximately 30 inches) which makes this
						primarily a near vision task. Although no specific distance is stipulated for
						the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue Test, it is assumed that it would be
						approximately the same or closer distance than that used for the Ishihara Test
						since the test boxes must be within easy reaching and viewing distance from the
						candidate.
(iv) The qualified
						physician, practitioner, optometrist or ophthalmologist administering the
						vision test should test at least near visual acuity immediately prior to
						administration of the Ishihara and Farnsworth-Munsell 100- Hue tests,
						respectively, and the visual acuity thresholds noted and reported along with
						the color vision test scores. The "Rosenbaum Pocket Vision Screener" or
						equivalent with testing administered under recommended lighting conditions and
						at approximately 14 inches from the candidate should ensure accurate
						results.
(v) If the candidate's
						near visual acuity is within normal limits (Jaeger 2 or Snellen Equivalent of
						20/30), the color vision tests should be performed without correction
						(glasses). For example, even a mild tint in glasses could distort viewing
						conditions for the color vision tasks and invalidate the test
						results.
(vi) If the candidate is
						further examined by the use of the Farnsworth Munsell 100-Hue Test, said test
						should be administered under CIE type C (6740) illumination by using a MacBeth
						Easel Lamp or the True Daylight Illuminator (TDI) or equivalent. The use of
						non- specific tungsten or fluorescent illumination is not acceptable for this
						test. If a candidate fails the initial test, he/she should, upon request, be
						immediately retested and the lower total error score used for the purposes of
						qualification. A total error score of not more than 124 is deemed acceptable.
						The use of any lens by a candidate in order to meet the color perception
						standards is not acceptable.
Note: Prior to administration of the Farnsworth-Munsell
						  100-Hue Test, the optometrist or ophthalmologist may deem it advisable to
						  administer as an adjunct the Farnsworth Panel D-15 Test. This may be done to
						  familiarize the candidate with the procedural task common to both tests, and
						  supplement interpretation of the required Test. The Farnsworth Panel D-15 Test
						  must likewise be given with the illumination specified for the
						  Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue Test
(3) Depth perception. Depth perception shall
						be sufficient to demonstrate normal stereo depth perception to the correctable
						standard of 80 ARC seconds
(4)
						Peripheral vision