VIDEO: Over the course of the month, thousands from a pool of NJ State Police hopefuls will compete for 250 available slots in the upcoming NJSP academy classes.More than 12,000 men and women submitted online applications, the most in any New Jersey State Police recruiting drive. More than 9,600 of them met all the initial qualifications and 8,500 scheduled themselves to take the Physical Qualification Test (PQT), which is the current phase of the process, as earlier reported.

The PQT includes four graded activities. Applicants begin with a 75 yard pursuit run that simulates a brief foot pursuit, directing the runners around a course with right angle turns. Next are push ups followed by sit ups, each over a two minute period. Finally, applicants must run a 1.5 mile course with a minimum time of 14:26. The better the performance in each exercise, the higher the score the applicants will receive. There is a brief rest period between each exercise.

Applicants passing the PQT will be invited to take a written examination. Those passing the written exam will have a thorough background investigation performed. Continuing applicants will receive medical and psychological examinations. Class rosters will be filled and applicants will then be invited to attend the residential academy, which lasts approximately 25 weeks.

The online application process was open from May 7th through May 29th of this year. There is a rough target to graduate 250 total troopers in 2013 as a part of the 152nd and 153rd State Police classes. TLS/ Video by the Lakewood Shopper for TLS.