OAKLAND — Police Chief Anne E. Kirkpatrick welcomed 23 new officers to the ranks Friday, telling them there is a place for enforcement in the community — but that their main responsibility is peacekeeping.
The officers graduated Friday from the 182nd Basic Recruit Academy during a ceremony at the Scottish Rite Temple. They were celebrated with rousing cheers from more than 250 relatives, friends, elected officials and other law enforcement officers in attendance.
Kirkpatrick told the new officers that the community will call them police officers — but the penal code defines them as peace officers, and that is their main responsibility. “There is a time and place for enforcement, but your first mission is peacekeeping,” she said.
She also told the graduates that they need to have a moral compass: The department can train you, but “your ethics and morals are governed by your compass that points to your true north.”
Kirkpatrick concluded by saying, “remember to guard your heart, be strong and courageous.”
Mayor Libby Schaaf told the graduates that she loves to say “the role of the government is to reduce human suffering and to make society more fair and more just. Both of those tasks require a countless amount of work, and no one is on the front lines of this work more than our police officers. Thank you for choosing this incredible, noble passion.”
She said their schooling is not over and that they “have to be constant learners. Your profession is in this moment of an intense and beautiful evolution. You need to be a part of that by contributing to the conversation about ‘what happens’ next for policing in American cities. Have courage, be curious, and serve with kindness.”
Two of the new officers come from law enforcement families. Officer Kendall Rowley’s badge was pinned on him by his father, retired Oakland police Sgt. Mark Rowley. Officer Marcus A. Easley’s badge was pinned on him by his father, retired Vallejo police Officer Wes Easley.
The other graduates, whose badges were pinned on them by Kirkpatrick, were: Class Valedictorian Alejandro Elias Morales, Hilary Alemanni, Bryan Aliping, Dionas Davis, Jason Duong, Koala Guoerluoti, Malik Jackson, Jonathan Johnson, Matthew E. Kuresa, Alexandra Paige Lowe, Tommy Nguyen, Brooke Nolette, Johana Orozco, Armando Danny Rodriguez, Meagan Ann Smith, Jonnell Sunga, Jimmy Tran, Omar Valerio, Nicolas Saul Villanueva, Frederick Williams and Jorge Yauger.
With the new graduates, the department now has 754 rank-and-file officers. The authorized strength is 792, and 42 recruits currently are going through the police academy.