City officials have announced the swearing in of 64 new police officers that happened at 1 p.m., at St. James A.M.E. Church in Newark.
Authorities said the graduates would become part of the Community Focus Division where they will be deployed to foot posts at various locations throughout the City of Newark.
“This is a very exciting day for the City of Newark as we continue to add new police officers,” Newark's Mayor Ras Baraka said.
“This group of Police Academy graduates has received advanced training in protecting residents by becoming an integral part of the communities they serve.
They understand that their job is to treat citizens the way they would treat members of their families.”
“I proudly welcome these new officers to the Newark Police Division,” Director Ambrose said.
“Replenishing our numbers following the police layoffs in 2010 is paramount to our ongoing success in actually serving the City of Newark. Since 2014, we have bolstered our numbers by 200 officers who helped us achieve our overall crime reduction of 13 percent and a 10 percent reduction in violent crimes during 2016.”
The Newark Police Division is currently staffed by 1,040 officers, with an additional 23 officers entering the Police Academy in March and the third class of more than 200 anticipated to enter an academy hosted by the New Jersey State Police in August of this year officials said.