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NEW YORK—Nearly 900 police recruits were hired on Tuesday with the swearing-in ceremony at Colden Auditorium at Queens College. The New York City Police Department recruits will begin their training at the NYPD Police Academy in Manhattan on Thursday and will graduate in July.
The class of new recruits is diverse in ethnicity and background, with the members being born in 44 different countries. Fifty-eight members have previous military service—28 serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, and 49 recruits previously served the city as school safety agents and traffic enforcement agents. Mayor Michael Bloomberg administered the oath of office to the new class and wished the class of 2012 good luck.
“Each of you is beginning the new year by joining the greatest police department on Earth,” said Bloomberg to the recruits. “That’s not a statement of opinion, it’s a matter of fact, based on a record of achievement that has made New York the undisputed safest big city in the nation. All New Yorkers owe you a debt of gratitude for the risks that you will take to keep our city safe. So let me be the first to say, ‘Thank you, and good luck on the road ahead.’”