NYPD graduates diverse class of cops, who will work in city’s roughest areas
The 607 graduates form one of the most diverse classes in the NYPD’s history. Fifty-one percent of the class is black, Latino or Asian, and women make up 20%. The new cops will be assigned to high-crime areas.
Cheers ring out Monday as 607 NYPD officers celebrate after being sworn in at the graduation at Madison Square Garden.
The NYPD welcomed 607 new graduates to its ranks Monday as one of the most diverse classes in the agency’s history graduated from the Police Academy.
The class included 71 people who served in the military and 53 who each speak three foreign languages.
In an address to the graduates, Mayor de Blasio, hailed the group’s diversity.
“Fifty-one percent of this class is African-American, Latino or Asian. Nearly 20% of this class is women,” de Blasio said, as the crowded room filled with applause.
“You hail from 47 different countries. . . . We have a Maltese speaker here in the class. We have a Tajik speaker here in the class. We have an Ewe speaker, which is a language spoken only in Ghana and Togo in West Africa. You name it, we got it at the NYPD. And you’re adding to that richness,” the mayor added.
Many of the graduates are from civil service families who have several relatives on the job, like Kathleen McCarthy, recipient of the New York City Police Foundation Award for Exceptional Community Service.
The graduates hail from 47 different countries. The class includes 71 people who served in the military and 53 who each speak three foreign languages.
Her father, Brian McCarthy, is a deputy chief; her brother, Arthur, is a cop in Manhattan; and her father’s sister, Lynn McCarthy, is also on the force.
Deputy Chief McCarthy said he was very proud his daughter followed in his family’s civil service footsteps.
“We’re all city residents and there’s nothing else we’d rather do,” he said.
Kathleen McCarthy, who began doing volunteer work with HIV and AIDS patients eight years ago when her father was at the 114th Precinct, said she wants to “help the community in and out of uniform.”
“I think it’s important as a police officer to remember it’s not just about getting the bad guys,” she said. “It’s that we’re the good guys.”
Commissioner Bill Bratton told the class he intends to reduce the crime rate this year compared with 2013 — and to do that, he’s going to assign them to high-crime areas.
Rookies will be assigned to work with 250 supervisors and officers in the eight busiest precincts, he said.
“I want you to learn from the best . . . so that for the next 20 years you understand what it means to be a cop,” Bratton said.
“(People) need you. You need to be there for them.”
Bratton also told the graduates it was critical they work with teens to prevent them from joining gangs and getting their hands on illegal guns.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/diverse-class-graduates-nypd-academy-article-1.1850096
