by William Crum
Last night was a special night for nine new recruits as 150 people gathered for police recruit graduation at the Kansas City, Kan., City Hall in the Commission Chambers.
Mayor Mark Holland said 400 applicants were interviewed, and nine were chosen.
“We spend $150 million, which is half our budget, on police, fire and sheriff’s office to make sure our citizens all will be taken care of,” he said.
“I really enjoyed the training,” said one of the recruits, John Stimach. He said it “was very challenging. I plan to retire from the Police Department. This is going to be my career.”
Logan Michael Smith, another recruit, said, “This is my lifelong dream. I wanted to be a police officer even as a young child. The training is very intense and it is very good. I plan to retire from the Police Department.”
Jorge Flores was the class valedictorian. Flores said, “I’m really excited to be a part of the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department. I plan to make this my career. It’s been my lifelong dream to be a police officer and I plan to retire from the police department.”
Police Chief Terry Zeigler said, “I’m really proud of this class. They show a lot of promise. As of yet we have no plans of hiring new police officers until a study is done. We definitely want make sure our citizens are safe.”
Former Interim Chief of Police Ellen Hanson was on hand to congratulate the new graduates. While she was in office she had a lot to do with getting this class started.
After the graduation there was a reception that was held in the lobby of City Hall in Kansas City, Kan. Friends and family of the new graduates had a chance to meet local officials and other graduates.
