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NYC Special Officer exam 7327: the complete guide

What the job is, when the exam is, the 6 ability areas it tests, and how to prepare for each one. Every fact below traces to the official notice.

Exam 7327 · New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services

Testing begins

Dec 7in 49 days

Your own test day is on your admission notice.

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12 questions · no signup · built for exam 7327

Key dates

Filing closed
September 22, 2026
Test date
December 7, 2026
Passing score
70%

Filing for Exam No. 7327 closed 22 September 2026. The notice expects testing to begin 7 December 2026.

Notice of Examination No. 7327 is the governing document, and its filing window is three weeks — the shortest of any exam tracked here. The application fee is $61.00, with a non-refundable 2.00% service fee added when paying by card; New York City high school students, first-time test takers, veterans, unemployed individuals and those receiving public assistance or supplementary security income qualify for a waiver. It replaces Exam 6327, which tested from 22 April 2026.

This is the widest-open door of the DCAS titles on this site. Where Police Communications Technician wants a year of experience or 30 college credits and Correction Officer wants 60 credits or military service, Special Officer wants a four-year high school diploma and nothing more. The trade is visible in the pay: a current minimum of $40,480 per annum, level with School Safety Agent for the lowest published figure of any exam covered here.

The exam number is not stable across cycles, which is worth knowing before you go looking for a notice: 6327 was the February 2026 filing that tested in April, 7327 is the September 2026 filing, and the DCAS annual schedule through 30 June 2027 lists one further Special Officer filing period opening 3 March 2027, whose notice will appear only when it opens. 7327 is the notice this page is built from.

Applications for Special Officer exam 7327 are filed in DCAS’s OASys; how payment, fee waivers and Final Submit work there is explained in the reference section, and other city filing windows are on the civil-service exam calendar.

The 6 ability areas, and what each one asks of you

The multiple-choice test is conducted at a computer terminal, the minimum passing score is 70%, and your score determines your ranking on the eligible list. The notice publishes no question count and no time limit. Each area below has a technique lesson and a drill built for this exam — not adapted from another one.

Deductive Reasoning

Take a rule you are given and apply it to a specific case, then judge whether the answer actually follows. The wrong options are usually the ones that break one clause of the rule.

Drill this area

Information Ordering

Put steps, numbers, names or procedures into the order a stated rule demands. The rule is always supplied — the work is following it exactly.

Drill this area

Problem Sensitivity

Notice that something is wrong, or about to go wrong, before it is pointed out — and name both the whole problem and its parts.

Drill this area

Time Sharing

Work two sources at once — a roster and a log, a list and a screen — and answer what neither of them says on its own. The shifting is the skill, not the reading.

Drill this area

Written Comprehension

Understand what a sentence or paragraph actually says — policies, regulations, signage — and answer from the text rather than from assumption.

Drill this area

Written Expression

Choose the wording that another person will read the way you meant it. Grammar, clarity and precision in reports, in multiple-choice form.

Drill this area

Six ability areas are named, and five of them are constructs that recur across DCAS uniformed notices: deductive reasoning, information ordering, problem sensitivity, written comprehension and written expression. The sixth is the reason this exam cannot be prepared for with another title's material.

Time Sharing — defined in the notice as shifting back and forth between two or more sources of information, with responding to emergencies as the worked example — appears on no other notice tracked on this site. It is a different item design rather than a different job context: every other construct here is answered from a single stimulus, and an item that could be answered from one source would be testing reading rather than shifting. Expect two documents in front of you at once, with the keyed answer available in neither alone.

Calculators are not permitted, and neither is any other electronic device. Items brought to the site are sealed in a Yondr pouch until after the exam event, headphones and earbuds included. The notice also warns that certain questions may need to be answered on the basis of documents or other information supplied on the day.

Who can apply

Education
A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent, approved by a State's Department of Education or a recognised accrediting organisation, by the date of appointment. There is no experience requirement, no credit requirement and no alternative pathway, because there is nothing above the diploma to substitute against.
Age
You must have reached your 20th birthday by the date of appointment. The requirement attaches at appointment rather than at filing or at the test, so a candidate can legitimately file and sit the exam below that age.
Peace officer designation and character
Under Criminal Procedure Law § 2.10 the title is designated a peace officer position, and the notice draws a direct consequence: proof of good character is an absolute prerequisite to appointment, so you must reveal ALL arrests, convictions and pending charges in your lifetime — including material sealed, expunged or set aside under federal or state law, and youthful offender adjudications.
State training, maintained annually
You must satisfy New York State's training requirements for peace officers, and once obtained the certification must be maintained for the duration of employment. Attendance at annual recertification training is mandatory and a continuing condition of employment — an ongoing obligation rather than a one-off hurdle.
Medical, psychological, firearms and licence
Medical and psychological guidelines are established for the title and you may be tested against them periodically throughout your career. Certain assignments require carrying firearms, and appointees to those assignments must qualify and remain qualified. A New York State driver licence is required by the time of appointment for positions in certain agencies. A drug screening may also be required.
Residency, citizenship and English
United States citizenship at the time of appointment, and New York City residency at appointment maintained as a continuing condition of employment — with the two-year rule afterwards permitting Nassau, Westchester, Suffolk, Orange, Rockland or Putnam counties. You must also be able to understand and be understood in English.
Qualification is verified after the test
The notice is explicit that you are given the test before qualifications are verified, and that a candidate later deemed Not Qualified forfeits the $61 fee and receives no score. On a title with a one-line education requirement, the conditions that catch people are age, residency and the character disclosure rather than the diploma.

Scoring, and what happens after you pass

If you pass, your name is placed on an eligible list in final score order and you receive a list number. The notice states that such a list is usually active for four years, within the bounds New York Civil Service Law § 56 sets for eligible lists generally.

Selection then runs under New York Civil Service Law § 61, which permits an appointing authority to choose among the three highest-ranked candidates on the certified list who are willing to accept appointment. On a four-year list the practical value of a higher score is being reached in year one rather than year three.

A candidate who believes the test was rated incorrectly may appeal to the DCAS Committee on Manifest Errors through the online application system, stating the reasons clearly. Veterans may be eligible for fee waivers, preference credits, make-up exams, retroactive seniority and age deductions where a maximum age applies.

What a Special Officer list number means, and how certification decides who is called, is explained in the guide to NYC eligible lists; the protest and appeal clocks that start on test day are in the guide to the weeks after a DCAS exam.

Special Officer eligible list trackerEvery active list, the scores behind the list numbers, and every hiring pool — from the city's own data, updated daily.

What the notice says about pay

Notice of Examination No. 7327 states a current minimum salary of $40,480 per annum, up from the $39,206 its February 2026 predecessor published, and adds that the rate is subject to change.

That ties School Safety Agent at $40,480 for the lowest starting figure of any exam on this site, well below Correction Officer at $56,838, and it is the honest counterweight to the diploma-only entry requirement. Officers may be required to work nights, weekends, holidays and rotating tours, so differentials and overtime make up a larger share of real earnings here than on a day-shift title.

How to prepare

Start with the diagnostic — 12 questions, about 6 minutes, no signup. It tells you which area is costing you rank, so you drill the weak one instead of the comfortable one. Then work the lessons and drills for that area, and sit a timed mock when you want to know where you stand under the clock.

Take the free diagnosticBrowse the drillsSit a timed mock

Questions candidates ask

What does a NYC Special Officer do?

They patrol designated areas of public buildings and the surrounding grounds to maintain order, preserve the peace and safeguard life and property. Duties include controlling access by CCTV and card readers, giving information to visitors, ejecting loiterers and disorderly persons, making arrests on the premises when appropriate, transporting persons in custody, testifying in court, and recording daily actions in a memo book and location log.

What are the requirements for the NYC Special Officer exam?

A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent by the date of appointment, and nothing above it. You must also reach your 20th birthday by appointment, be a U.S. citizen and a New York City resident at appointment, and satisfy the character, medical, psychological and peace officer training conditions.

How much does a NYC Special Officer make?

Notice 7327 states a current minimum salary of $40,480 per annum, subject to change. That excludes shift differentials, overtime and allowances, which matter more here than on a day-shift title because the notice provides for nights, weekends, holidays and rotating tours.

What is Time Sharing on the exam?

It is one of the six abilities named in notice 7327, defined as shifting back and forth between two or more sources of information. No other DCAS notice tracked here lists it, and it produces items where two documents are shown together and the answer requires reading across both.

Is a Special Officer a peace officer?

Yes. The notice states that pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law § 2.10 the position is designated a peace officer position, which is what triggers the absolute good-character prerequisite and the mandatory state training with annual recertification.

Do I have to disclose a sealed arrest?

Yes. The notice requires disclosure of all arrests, convictions and pending charges in your lifetime, explicitly including matter sealed, expunged or set aside under federal or state law, and youthful offender adjudications. Intentional misrepresentation may result in disqualification even after appointment.

Do all Special Officers carry firearms?

No. The notice says certain assignments require carrying firearms and that appointees to those assignments must qualify and remain qualified for firearms usage and possession. It is an assignment condition rather than a universal one.

The rest of the guide

Special Officer practice test — one question from every ability area

Real questions from the bank, answered in the page, with the technique explanation after each one.

NYC Special Officer Salary (2026): $40,480 Starting Pay Explained

What a NYC Special Officer earns: the $40,480 minimum in exam 7327, what 'subject to change' means on a notice published in September, and why the shift differentials matter more here than on any other DCAS title..

NYC Special Officer Requirements (Exam 7327): Diploma, Age 20, Peace Officer Standards

Every requirement in Notice of Examination 7327 for NYC Special Officer: the four-year high school diploma, the 20th-birthday rule at appointment, the lifetime arrest disclosure, peace officer training certification, and the medical, psychological and residency conditions..

NYC Special Officer Exam 7327 Test Format: 6 Abilities Including Time Sharing

The format of NYC Special Officer exam 7327: a computer-based multiple-choice test scored to rank, a 70% pass mark, no calculators, and six ability areas — one of which, Time Sharing, appears on no other DCAS notice tracked here..

What Does a NYC Special Officer Do? Duties, Tours and Working Conditions

The job description in Notice of Examination 7327: patrolling public buildings, controlling access, ejecting loiterers, making arrests, transporting prisoners, testifying in court, and the rotating tours and physical conditions the notice sets out..

Special Officer Peace Officer Status: What CPL 2.10 Designation Means

Why NYC Special Officer is designated a peace officer position under Criminal Procedure Law 2.10, and what follows from it: the lifetime character disclosure, mandatory state training with annual recertification, and firearms qualification on certain assignments..

Where these facts come from

We do not publish exam dates ourselves, and you should be skeptical of any site that posts one without a source. Every fact on this page comes from the documents below, each with the date we last opened it. Facts on this page were last checked September 8, 2026 — for the current filing period and test date, the official notice is authoritative.