By Tiffany Williams –
BOSTON — Boston’s newest police academy graduates are heading toward patrol duty after a ceremony that marked both the completion of their training and a series of firsts for the department. Recruit Class #67-26 graduated Tuesday at Faneuil Hall, adding 118 new officers to the ranks of those serving the city.
Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox led the October 20 ceremony. The graduating class includes military veterans, recruits who speak languages other than English and women breaking barriers in the academy’s history.
Among the graduates are the first Muslim woman, the first Somali American woman and the first Ghanaian American woman to graduate from the Boston Police Academy. Those milestones place this class in the department’s history as its newest officers prepare to serve a city with a broad range of cultural backgrounds.
The class’s language skills underscore that diversity. Sixty-six graduates speak a language other than English — more than half of the 118 officers completing the academy.
Eighteen graduates also served in the military. They now enter a new phase of public service alongside classmates who completed the academy’s curriculum and the traditions that mark the transition from recruit to police officer.
That preparation included the traditional final class run from Hyde Park to Boston Police Headquarters at One Schroeder Plaza. The run was one of the concluding milestones before recruits gathered at Faneuil Hall for graduation.
The class also includes 26 members of LLEGO Boston, an organization dedicated to the recruitment, retention and advancement of minority law enforcement officers in the city. Those graduates account for nearly 22 percent of the class, giving the organization a substantial presence among the department’s newest officers.
Tuesday’s graduation brings those backgrounds together in one class: 118 officers, 66 who speak another language and 18 who served in the military. With their academy training complete, the graduates now move toward the responsibility at the center of their new careers — patrolling Boston and serving its communities.