47 Officers Graduate APD’s 124th Cadet Class
Oct. 22, 2021
47 cadets have graduated the Albuquerque Police Department’s 124th Cadet Class. The new officers now bring the department to 945 total sworn personnel and have fulfilled Mayor Keller’s goal of hiring 100 officers each year during his first term.
The 124th Cadet Class is the first graduating class under the department’s newly hired Commander Renae McDermott. Commander McDermott oversees the Police Academy and has more than 30 years of experience in federal law enforcement including time as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the Albuquerque FBI Field Office. Most recently before taking the position with APD, McDermott was the Assistant Director of the Training Division in Quantico.
“Today we proudly graduated the newest members of the Albuquerque Police Department,” said Commander Renae McDermott of the APD Academy. “Each of these dedicated men and women earned the right, the honor and the privilege of graduating from one of the finest police academies in the country.”
Dr. Jessica Hejny also joined APD in May and is the department’s first Curriculum Development Manager, managing the design, evaluation and implementation of the Academy’s training curriculum. Dr. Hejny has experience developing courses and curriculum and brings a unique background and expertise to the Police Academy.
Among his many duties, Deputy CAO and Interim Superintendent of Police Reform Sylvester Stanley manages the Police Academy operation and today witnessed the second cadet class graduate under his time with the Police Department. As he works on the reform process, he has been a big part of the complete overhaul of the Academy.
“Now that we have a fulltime curriculum professor and a seasoned commander running our Academy, we have made significant improvements to our professional standards,” said Superintendent of Police Reform Sylvester Stanley. “It is great to see so many qualified men and women joining the ranks and graduating the best Academy in the state.”
“We have made big strides in changing not only the culture at APD, but also how we train our officers, and a big part of that is community based policing, said Chief Harold Medina. “I am glad to see so much interest in our department, 1,000 applicants applied for this cadet class and today 47 of the best and finest are now among our rank and file, fighting crime and protecting our city.”
Among the graduates is an individual who started as a Public Service Aide (PSA) and is continuing his career as an officer. Chief Medina has made a valiant effort to increase recruiting efforts for PSAs to build a pipeline of future officers. Every PSA that recently graduated the PSA Academy said they would like to be officers when they come of age. Chief Medina’s goal is to not plan year to year, but has developed a multi-year recruiting plan, among his initiatives, doubling the number of Police Service Aides so officers are freed up to fight crime.
“I committed to hiring 100 new officers each year, and today we are continuing to meet that goal," said Mayor Tim Keller. “We have faced tremendous challenges during the pandemic but have been able to keep moving forward with major improvements at our Police Academy and growing our police force to make our community safer.”
The graduates will complete On the Job Training for 17 weeks before they work individually in the field.
The department currently has cadets seating for the upcoming Cadet Class which starts in December. If anyone is interested in joining APD, please visit this website.