A ceremony was held at Edmonton City Hall on Friday afternoon celebrating the graduation of 50 new police officers and two police dogs.
The graduating class is made up of 47 Edmonton officers, two Camrose officers and one Lakeshore officer as part of the Recruit Training Class (RTC) 161.
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“The number 50 is significant because we are facing staffing issues, and so we need those members to work with the community, address a growing number of needs and make sure that we’re providing an adequate response to the needs of all the different communities,” said Staff Sgt. Travis Kerr on Friday.
According to Kerr, the graduating class is considered to be one of the larger classes.
Nearly 150 projected officers will graduate this year with 45 officers graduating in June with the goal of hiring 50 more in August.
EPS aims to keep that number year after year.
The RTC 161 officers hail from diverse career backgrounds including law enforcement, corrections, military, social services and the trades. A handful of police officers have come to serve from abroad, including Ukraine, Singapore, India and Serbia.
They have dedicated more than 800 hours volunteering within the community as part of their training, supporting multiple EPS and Edmonton Police Foundation events.
Cole Vriend, a graduating officer, told CTV News Edmonton the day carries a special significance.
“Today is the end of 50 of us … working together to get through class and to teach us how to survive on the streets and be good, confident police officers, then the start of a hopefully a long career for every one of us,” Vriend said on Friday.
He said he’s most excited for patrol and to see where his strengths lie while on the job and where his career will take him.
“There’ll be some days when I spend more time doing reports than anything. There’ll be some days where you’re in the action and in the thick of it every minute, and kind of having a different shift every day will be exciting,” the new constable said.
With the RTC 161’s training complete, the officers will start field development under the Community Policing Bureau.
