The Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) has reached record police staffing levels following the graduation of 113 police officers from the 118th Police Academy class which included seven legacy officers who have a family member who served with the PAPD or other law enforcement agency.
The new officers bring the total department staffing to 2,169, the highest levels in its history.
“These new recruits will bolster the ranks of the PAPD to its highest levels ever, furthering our commitment to public safety and to the millions of travelers who use our transportation facilities each year,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole. “We applaud these new officers as they join the ranks of one of the nation’s premier police agencies, and we wish them well as they begin their law enforcement careers.”
The graduation ceremony, held at St. Joseph’s High School in Metuchen, N.J., included 80 college graduates and 15 military veterans, with 47 graduates having prior law enforcement experience. The graduates speak a total of 12 languages and Hispanics, African Americans and Asian Americans make up 30 percent of the graduating class.
“Our goal is to build a highly skilled, highly diverse department whose members are trained to handle the ongoing post 9/11 policing issues and are equally equipped to deal with the region’s changing demographic population,” said Port Authority Chief Security Officer John Bilich. “We believe the extensive training these officers have received have provided them with the skills they need to serve the traveling public at all of our transportation facilities.”
As part of their 25-week training sessions, the new graduates studied the laws of both New York and New Jersey and received comprehensive instruction in police procedures, firearms usage, first aid and counter-terrorism techniques. They also received training from a Holocaust survivor to help them examine the roots of prejudice and intolerance and apply those lessons to police work.
