Worcester Police Academy graduates 28 officers; speakers reflect on changes to policing

Correction: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect first name for one of the graduates, Joseph Fitton.

WORCESTER — In a Friday-morning ceremony held at Worcester Technical High School, 28 Worcester Police Academy recruits became city police officers while an additional four graduated to departments in other towns.

"In my 22 years with the Worcester Police Department, I have enjoyed fewer things more than watching this class grow together," Lt. John L. Bossolt said. "You are great people with almost limitless potential."

An Auburn recruit, two Hudson recruits and a Shirley recruit became officers Friday along with their Worcester classmates.

Of the Worcester recruits, 12 come from minority racial and ethnic groups, and three are women. Members of the graduating class speak Albanian, Italian and Spanish, according to a police press release.

The Worcester Police Department is staffed with 335 officers and 94 officials. Police officials and union leaders have raised concerns that there have been challenges to recruiting more officers.

The city department is budgeted for 371 officers.

Part of a large family

Officials welcomed the new officers into a larger family of officers who promise to look out for each other and come together in hard times.

"There's evil in this world, and your job now is to protect your community against that evil," Capt. Jeremiah F. O'Rourke, director of the academy, said.

O'Rourke said the recruits got to witness the impact of that evil when they went to Connecticut in October to attend the funeral services of two Bristol officers killed in the line of duty.

Over the past three years, the role of law enforcement in America has come under renewed attention and scrutiny after several high-profile incidents of Black people being killed in interactions with police, along with changing attitudes toward the root causes of crime and best practices for crime prevention.

These questions have also reached the Worcester Police Department, which is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice to assess whether the department engages in a pattern or practice of excessive force or discrimination.

Community policing key

The principles of community policing were extolled during the graduation and the role police officers play in responding to the ongoing country's mental health, homelessness and opioid crises was acknowledged.

O'Rourke said the new officers were trained to properly communicate with people, treat them with dignity and be a neutral arbiter in decision making.

"Without trust, there's no sense of community," O'Rourke said. "And let's face it, most of your challenges in policing will have little to do with crime control. Most of your challenges will be dealing with mental illness, homelessness, substance-use disorder. They deserve dignity and respect."

Mayor Joseph M. Petty said the role of a police officer has become increasingly difficult.

"Like our school systems and teachers, your responsibilities have grown exponentially over the years," Petty said.

Petty said more is being asked of the police department even as he said Worcester has one of the lowest rates of violent crime of any city in the Northeast.

Keep positive mindset

Worcester Police Chief Steven M. Sargent said the officers will be challenged with the negativity that police stations nationwide are facing, and must put on their uniforms with a positive mindset.

"It may sound cliché, but you are our future, this is your time to rise," Sargent said. "You came into today's profession because it's a calling."

Several speakers noted that the class would be the first to join the police department equipped with Tasers and with a fully implemented body camera program. The cameras come after a years-long effort to place cameras on officers to ensure transparency.

The class is also the first to graduate with certification from the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, created by the state's police reform law that went into effect in 2021.

This graduating class also took part in the search for missing Brookfield woman Brittany Tee.

Jack Dube was presented the Academy's academic achievement award, Aaron Petricca the marksmanship award, Dylan D'Angelo the physical fitness award, Elmer M. Diaz the "110%" award and Denise H. Kiley of the Shirley Police Department received the director's award.

The graduates

The following Worcester recruits graduated Friday: Ryan Anderson, Prince Boateng, Anthony Borci, Taylor Boucher, Alphonse Caruso, Fernando Castro, Daniel Cimpan, Trevon Cooper, Timothy Cullen, Dylan D'Angelo, Nazriel De Desus, Elmer Diaz, Jack Dube, Joseph Fitton, Kimberly Friedland, Brendan Friend, Michael Genese, Alfred Iraola, Wesley Lojko, Mason Mattero, Jacob Molstad, Michael Monfredo, Luis Ortiz, Aaron Petricca, Jonathan Rodriguez, Abdul Sebbai, Brianna Tortora, Jonathan Winbush.

Paul A. Riley became an Auburn police officer, Kayleigh D. Myerson and Cameron J. O'Toole became Hudson police officers, and Denise H. Kiley became a Shirley police officer.

The new Worcester officers will take part in Sunday's annual Worcester County St. Patrick's Parade.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester Police Academy graduates 28 officers.