An immigrant in the legendary NYPD: how an Azerbaijani became a cop in New York

There are about 37 police officers in the Big Apple. The NYPD is not just a police department, it is a legend. Films are made about New York cops, books are written, thousands of people dream of joining their ranks. Nisa Hajiyeva, one of the few Azerbaijanis in the New York Police Department, managed to realize this dream. Media.az.

Nissa Gadzhiyeva is 36 years old. The woman was born and raised in Baku, in a family that went through many trials. Nysa's parents are deaf and dumb, and her older brother was born with Down syndrome.

After school, she entered the Azerbaijan University of Foreign Languages, which was the first step on her way to America.

At this stage, love intervened in the fate of an Azerbaijani woman. In America, Nisa got married, and this was the main reason to stay in New York. Now she has four children - two daughters and two sons, the youngest child is five years old.

Path to the police

Neesa described the recruitment process for the New York Police Department as "a laborious process."

“First of all, a request is sent to Azerbaijan in order to get complete information about me: from birth to the present. To enter the police academy, I had to pass several exams. The most difficult was to pass the psychological test. There were such questions that it seemed that you were in a hopeless situation. However, I successfully coped with everything. After she passed the written exam and demonstrated her physical fitness,” Hajiyeva said.

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In 2020, after passing all the preliminary exams, an Azerbaijani entered the famous New York Police Academy (you definitely remember the film about her), where she studied for six months along with other 500 students of her enrollment.

“I was the best with weapons, and for excellent shooting I was awarded the Sharp Shooter medal,” the girl boasted, noting that she had never held a weapon in her hands before entering the academy.

Azerbaijanis in the New York Police

Hajiyeva says she knows 6 or 7 more Azerbaijanis working for the NYPD, some of them even have high ranks. Nevertheless, there are relatively few people from Azerbaijan in the NYPD.

“There are quite a few police officers from Russia and Turkey serving in the NYPD. For example, there are over 100 police officers from Turkey, so they have their own association. They often meet, celebrate significant days together. I hope that the number of Azerbaijanis will increase here and we will create our own association,” says Nisa.

In the meantime, she does not miss a moment to introduce Americans to the rich Azerbaijani culture: “When I first entered the service, many were interested in my homeland. I showed them photographs in which I was in national clothes, talked about the rich nature and culture of our country. Sometimes at work I treat my colleagues to Azerbaijani dishes that I cook at home.”

Difference mentalities

Nisa says that Americans are very different from Azerbaijanis: “They prefer to stay away from neighbors and live on their own. In Azerbaijan, we visit each other, often meet with friends…”

But such a difference in mentality does not prevent her from loving New York and America.

“I love my job despite the difficulties. I get pleasure from the fact that I can be useful to people, I help them. Although I live in the United States, Azerbaijan is forever in my heart,” the policewoman summed up.