Faced with a dramatic decline in the number of people seeking to become police officers, Worcester widens its search for recruits by allowing candidates as old as 39 to enter the hiring process.
Gov. Maura Healey signed legislation raising the maximum eligibility age for prospective Worcester police officers from 32 to 39, following approval by the city council and a push by the city’s legislative delegation on Beacon Hill.
The change comes as Worcester has seen its pool of potential police recruits shrink from between 1,200 and 1,500 candidates a year in the past to roughly 200 to 250 more recently, according to an announcement from state Sen. Michael Moore’s office…