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Diverse group of officers join Syracuse Police Department

John Smith, WAER News

TheSyracuse Police Department receives one of its most diverse groups of incoming officers. 

 
The class of 32 officers, which includes five women and eight minorities, completed six months of training through the Syracuse Regional Police Academy.  

 
Speaking on behalf of the class at today’s graduation ceremony, Officer Joe Moran shared his early experiences in the field.  Only three weeks into training, he attended Officer Daryl Pierson’s funeral, an experience that has stayed with him, Moran said.  

 
“It then hit me. I imagined myself at the podium having to speak on my partner’s behalf – my partner could’ve died,” he said. “At that very moment, I realized what I had signed up for and the risk associated with the profession.”

Several officers were honored with awards in categories, such as physical fitness, academics and firearms. Officer Joe Commisso received the class leader award.  Before becoming an officer, he owned a business, but he still felt that something was missing from his life, Commisso said.
 

“I knew that a police officer was a right choice for me. So, I actually took the test four years ago and that’s when Syracuse went on their hiring freeze. And so ever since then I’d been waiting for the nod,” he said.
 

 
All of the new officers will work on patrol, said Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler.  The department has been looking forward to this for six months, he said.

 
 “The more officers in our ranks, the better service we can provide to our community,” Fowler said. “So, this is a good day for us.” 

John Smith has been waking up WAER listeners for a long time as our Local Co-Host of Morning Edition with timely news and information, working alongside student Sportscasters from the Newhouse School.
Valerie studies Newspaper Online Journalism at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She began reporting for WAER in 2008. Two years later, she started helping produce the afternoon state and local newscasts. Then, her passion for radio led her to report and anchor local news for KBEC 1390-AM in Waxahachie, TX from 2011 – 2012. After returning to WAER, she jumped right back in as assistant producer and weekend reporter. Now, she’s primarily interested in multimedia journalism, telling stories through print, photography and audio for the web. But you can still hear her this fall, as Friday’s host for All Things Considered. She enjoys the beautiful scenery around Syracuse. And she loves serving Central New Yorkers!