Suffolk County Police Department To Hold Graduation Of 174th Recruit Class
Suffolk County, NY - August 23, 2018 - Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart, and Suffolk County Police Chief of Department Stuart Cameron will preside over the Suffolk County Police Academy graduation ceremony on August 24 at 10 a.m.
Thirty-three recruits have completed 30 weeks of academy training and have received more than 1000 hours of instruction on topics including law, emergency medical training, defensive tactics, domestic violence, mental illness, cultural diversity, emergency driving, firearms and terrorism. This is the first class with a 30 week program, an increase from 29 weeks, and includes curriculum changes in topics such as: Defensive Tactics, Professional Communications, Behavioral Observation and Suspicious Activity Recognition (BOSAR).
The class consists of 33 Suffolk County Police recruits, of which approximately 9% have previous law enforcement experience, and 30% have served in the military. Thirty-six percent speak Spanish.
To many of the recruits, graduating from Suffolk County Police Academy is a long-awaited dream come true. Recruit Kevin Vega, 23, grew up in Brentwood in a single parent home. As a young student, he worried about being approached by local gang members and felt safe when he would see marked police cars in the neighborhood. The sense of security and protection the SCPD provided inspired Vega to want to give back to his community and to the youth who deal with similar situations today.