Some 3,000 men and women are expected to try to become Hono­lulu Police Department officers during a recruitment drive slated to begin next week.

Detective Glen Luecke of HPD’s Human Resources Division said that many applicants take the city’s civil service written test when it is offered, hoping to join a list of eligible candidates who then must pass background checks and physical and psychological examinations.

This recruitment drive marks the second time this year that the police have solicited applications for recruits.

Before the drive begins, there will be a job fair at 10 a.m. Saturday at HPD’s Ke Kula Makai Training Academy, 93-093 Wai­pahu Depot St., near the Wai­pahu Convenience Center.

Officers will be available to answer questions pertaining to the application process as well as how police juggle family, physical fitness and other matters. The job fair will include presentations, a tour of the training academy and equipment displays.

The city will begin accepting online applications for metropolitan recruits Sunday. The five-day application window will close Thursday. All applications must be filed online at the city Department of Human Resources website, agency.governmentjobs.com/honolulu/default.cfm?action=jobs.

Applicants must be at least 20 years old at time of application. However, Luecke said, with instances of past recruits joining the force in their 50s, there is no upper age limit.

The Police Department said there are now more women applying to join, with female officers occupying 10 percent of its ranks. Currently, there are 2,143 authorized officer positions.

There are 164 vacant HPD positions, and 269 officers are eligible to retire at this time.

The Police Department aims to hire 180 recruits a year with a goal of graduating four recruit classes each year.

Officer Lauren Schrei­ner, a 1999 St. Andrew’s Priory graduate, said seven years ago she was part of a recruit class made up of 65 candidates, including 10 women. By the time the six-month program wrapped up, her class had been cut to 35, with five women graduating.

Schreiner, 33, said she had long considered a career in law enforcement and decided to enter the police force after spending eight years in the Hawaii Army National Guard, including a deployment to Iraq in 2005 with the 29th Brigade Support Battalion.

While Schreiner had undergone basic training and other physical requirements while in the Hawaii Army National Guard, she said the physical requirements tied to police training were "much more of a challenge," adding, "I still needed to work on them."

Luecke said the department is "looking for the best-qualified female officers who are service-oriented."

The application process has 13 steps, which range from the written civil service test and physical assessments to a lie detector test.

The city’s written test scores are good for a year, Luecke said.

It takes the city and the Police Department up to seven months to process scores and rank potential candidates.

The 22-week recruit classes include criminal law, defensive tactics, community policing, investigative procedures, patrol procedures, traffic law and driver training.

The recruit school is followed by two weeks of post academy training and 14 weeks of field training, during which recruits are paired with seasoned officers who observe, train and evaluate progress.

Police recruits earn $53,000 annually while training and are on probation for 12 months beginning the day they enter the academy.

Police officials note that recruits from the past several classes have varied backgrounds. Of the 26 recruits in the class that graduated May 7, four were women.

That recruit class included a makeup artist, park ranger, carpenter and the titleholder of state and national weightlifting records. Several recruits had special language skills. Among the languages: Portuguese, Korean, Mandarin, Japa­nese, Taga­log, Ilocano and Spanish.

There were 27 men and four women in the preceding class, which graduated Dec. 27.

Two recruits in that class previously worked for the HPD, one as a criminalist and the other as a dispatcher. Two others were former University of Hawaii football players. Almost a third of the recruits had military backgrounds, including several with tours of duty in the Middle East.