Fifty-one recruits – including one from the Westchester County Police Department – graduated Friday from the Westchester County Police Academy. They are headed off to work at six departments in Westchester.
The new officers, who completed 22 weeks of training at the police academy in Valhalla, received their diplomas before a packed house at the SUNY Purchase Recital Hall.
County Executive Ken Jenkins and Public Safety Commissioner Terrance Raynor presented the graduates of the 160th Session of Basic Recruit School with their diplomas and congratulated them for mastering the physical and academic demands of the Academy.
“To the members of the 160th Session: thank you for all your hard work and for all you have accomplished at the Academy. You leave here with the training and the skills you will need to protect our communities from those who would do us harm. Stay true to your ideals and rely on the outstanding training and example you have received these past 22 weeks,” Jenkins told Westchester’s newest police officers.
The county executive also thanked the family members in attendance for the love and support they have provided, and will continue to provide, to the region’s newest police officers.
“I know you are proud of these new officers. And I know there will be times you will worry about them. My dad was a police officer and I am familiar with those emotions, and more, when a loved one serves in law enforcement,” he said.
Raynor urged the graduates to treat all members of the public with fairness and respect in the performance of their duties.
“The state of policing in this country demands that you embrace the concept of police and community working together. I encourage you to engage your communities with humility and respect. Treat people with fairness and empathy, no matter their race, religion or socio-economic status. Converse with others the way you would like your loved ones spoken to. The instruction you received at the Academy enables you to be the guardians your community seeks,” he said.
The graduates and their departments are:
Westchester County Police: Edison Regalado.
Mount Vernon: Peter Abdou, Michael Balducci, Walter Carpio-Monterroso, Vincent Kukaj, Stevesha Marsden, Joseph Shleiwet, Ted Trashani.
New Rochelle: Connor Burke, Michael Clements, Taylor Creazzo, Kaitlyn DiLalla, Davante Parker, Kevin Ruiz-Graciano.
Scarsdale: Philip Del Bene.
White Plains: Luke Arnzen, Richard Clark, Alam DeLos Angeles, Michael Guglielmo, Veronica Lew, Maxwell Littleton, Adalberto Martinez, Steven Michell, Michael Nespolini, Thomas O’Sullivan, Lisa Petrellese, James Rhodes III, Tiffany Rivera, Robert Santana, Frank Spaziante Jr.
Yonkers: Amanda Alvarez, Joanna Bavosa, Francis Birmingham, William Branch, Natasha Chennies, Cole DeVito, Michael DiRosa, Peter DiRosa, Robert Doci, John Francesconi, Theodore Fullerton, Anton Hlawitschka, Nabil Kawar, Rosemary Kearins, Joseph Kieltlya, Irvin Martinez, Timothy McDermott, Cassandra Newman, Christopher Pena, Jake Spreckman, Luke Tannian.