SALT LAKE CITY — A dozen academy recruits who went through graduation ceremonies at Utah State Park on Thursday are now ready to hit the streets of Salt Lake City as police officers.
"What was going through my head is holy smokes! It’s finally happened! Six months of hard work, and then I just got excited," shared new officer Kody Black.
Black shared his feelings after his wife pinned his badge on his uniform and the realization that he had become an officer.
"I wanted to become an officer cause I wanted to make a difference," he said. "I wanted to make a positive impact on someone’s life every day."
To get the opportunity wasn’t easy for Ofc. Black and the 11 other recruits that made up Academy Class 173, who went through nearly six months of training.
Ofc. Chris Poteracki, an 18-year veteran and lead instructor at the academy, said policing today is nothing like it was when he became an officer.
"The public expects more from us now. Which is a good thing," Poteracki explained. "Accountability and feel like these recruits are held to way higher standard today that maybe officers were a couple decades ago.
"When I first started, it was arrest bad guys [and] take them to jail whether they wanted to go or not. We are more viewed as the guardians now, and I try to push [new officers] to understand that they’re guardians, not warriors."
The ceremony comes in just the third week on the job for new Chief of Police Brian Redd, who took over a department needing to hire more officers. Even with the 12 new officers, Redd says he’s looking to hire an additional 40 officers.
"I think West Valley is the next largest police department, and I think they have around 220 officers; we’re about 650, so that gives you some context on our size," the chief explained.
Redd is first to admit that the sooner more recruits can get through the police academy, the better.
"It makes a difference for the officers here in the department, when we’re full strength, they can their time off, their vacation, it puts more officers on the street for the community," he said.
For now, the latest academy class is ready to help pick up the slack, and though police work is dangerous and unpredictable, Ofc. Black can’t wait to hit the streets.
"I am really appreciative the Salt Lake City Police Department took us on as officers and put us through this academy," he said. "And I am really excited to get to work."
