Seventy-seven police recruits graduated on December 12th from the Westchester County Police Academy and are headed off to work at 15 law enforcement agencies in Westchester and one in Putnam County.
The new officers, who completed 20 weeks of training at the police academy in Valhalla, received their diplomas before a packed house at the SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center.
County Executive George Latimer, Deputy County Executive Kenneth Jenkins, Public Safety Commissioner Thomas A. Gleason and Westchester District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. presented the graduates of the 148th Session Basic Police Recruit Class with their diplomas and congratulated them for mastering the physical and academic demands of the Academy.
Gleason noted that the recruit school curriculum is constantly updated to reflect the challenges police officers face in today’s world. He said they were well prepared for whatever might come their way and he urged them to always be focused on improving the lives of people they serve and protect.
“It will not be the rank you achieve, or the size of the pension you collect, that will be measure of how you did when your retirement comes. It will be this: did I leave things better than I found them? Is my department stronger, and is my community better, because of my service? Did I make a difference in someone’s life? Your goal from day 1 is to be able to say yes to those questions when the time comes,” Gleason said.
He thanked the Academy staff, class advisors and visiting instructors for their hard work in helping the recruit class to succeed. He urged the recruits to rely on their training and remember what drew them to choose a career in law enforcement.
“If you stay true to your ideals, and do what you know in your heart is the right thing, you will be able to put your head on the pillow at night knowing that you did this difficult and demanding job to the best of your ability,” Gleason said.
Westchester County: Thomas Conway and John Tannian
Carmel: Travis Lash and Vincenzo Rocco
Croton-on-Hudson: Nicholas DiTomasso
Dobbs Ferry: Andres DeJesus and Dylan Luzon
Eastchester: Jeyfer Chacon and Kevin Krippel
Elmsford: Anthony Lopez
Greenburgh: Christopher Cochrane
Hastings-on-Hudson: Peter Meyers
Irvington: Thomas DiCampli and Anthony DiNardo
Mamaroneck Village: Jason Sanchez
Mount Vernon: John Beckham, Cristopher Benjamin Pequro, Joseph Detz, Joseph Dimperio, Jason Guziczek, Kenneth Hipius, Jose Rodriguez, Shecore Speid and Marc Spergel
New Rochelle: Christopher Braun, Joshua Garcia, Thomas Hanigan, Michael Jellen, Ricardo Medina and Tina Morzello
North Castle: Douglas Neeson
Ossining: Michael Juliano and Luke Malone
White Plains: Joseph Amoruso, Pasquale Barile, Christopher Browning, Matthew Caldarola, Salvatore Capuzello, kevin Dinnegan, Elisa DiPaterio, Steven Garcia, John Hannon, Michael Levito, Joseph Marinello, Steven Moronta, Richard Pasols Jr., Lauren Riley and Nicholas Russo.
Yonkers: Michael Bellone, Megan Canty, Keith Defino, Dylan Deierlein, Vincent Dicaprio, Michael Fracchiolla, Kyle Gray, Michael Hodges, Ann Jimenez, Shaban Khan, Roger Khoury, Michael Klimetz, Catherine lara, Nicholas McGill, Jorge Miclat, Brendan Mulroy, Jared Newman, Daisy Payes, Frank Sabatino, Joseph Salameh, lauren Soto, Vincent Spano, William Sullivan, Euthimios Theotokatos, Elizabeth Tovar and Steven Velasquez
Yorktown: Michael Uhl