Eighty-three police recruits graduated Friday from the Westchester County Police Academy and are headed off to work at 22 law enforcement agencies in Westchester and one in Putnam. Nine recruits will join the New Rochelle Police Department. The new officers, who completed 20 weeks of training at the police academy in Valhalla, received their diplomas during a ceremony at Westchester Community College.

County Executive George Latimer, Public Safety Commissioner Thomas A. Gleason and Westchester District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. addressed the graduates of the 147th Session Basic Police Recruit Class and congratulated them for mastering the physical and academic demands of the Academy.

County Executive Latimer said: “Congratulations to the 83 men and women from the 147th Session, and their families, for their hard work over the past four months that brought them successfully to graduation today. Police work is a challenging profession and the work is often demanding and stressful. Thanks to Commissioner Gleason, Chief Inspector Martin McGlynn, Lt. Nicholas Alongi and the staff and instructors at the Academy, all can be confident these graduates have the knowledge, skills, tactics and training to help them handle whatever comes their way.”

“The New Rochelle Police Department congratulates all the graduates of the 147th Session of the Basic Police Recruit Class, particularly our own nine new officers including Probationary Police Officer, Alessandra C. Ricigliano, the session’s recipient of the Westchester County Chiefs of Police Esprit de Corps Award,” said New Rochelle Police Commissioner Joseph Schaller. “The Westchester County Police Academy provides us with an excellent police recruit training program that gives our new officers a solid foundation upon which to build successful careers in the police service.”

Commissioner Thomas A. Gleason of the Department of Public Safety said that the recruit school curriculum is constantly updated to reflect the challenges police officers face in today’s world, noting that training in counter-terrorism, active shooter incidents and crisis intervention has been expanded at the police academy. The members of the graduating class mastered it all.

“In simpler times, active shooter and counter-terrorism training was not a part of the Police Academy Curriculum. But our world has changed, and so has our training. You have been given the knowledge and skills to handle whatever might come your way,” Gleason said.

He urged the graduates to commit themselves to the improving their departments and communities throughout their careers.

“I urge you to make the most of every moment -- and make a difference in the lives of the people and the communities you are sworn to protect,” he said. He also thanked the Academy staff and visiting instructors for their hard work in helping the recruit class to succeed.

2019 New Rochelle Probationary Officers: Alex Arias, Kari Bird, Matthew Moskalik, Wayne Nelson II, Jesse Pugliese, Alessandra Ricigliano, Anthony Sabatino, Marlon Stewart and Liam Wynne.