28 New Orleans police recruits graduate
NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Police Department has added 28 new recruits to its ranks.
They graduated Friday from the city's police training academy.
The New Orleans Advocate reports that the recruits took their oath of office following a ceremony that featured Police Superintendent Michael Harrison, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Entergy CEO Charles Rice.
The recruits trained eight hours a day, five days a week for 26 weeks. Now, they face 16 weeks of field training, in which they are partnered with experienced officers.
The class increases the department's total manpower to 1,161, up from 1,146 roughly one year ago.
Landrieu has said he hopes the department has 1,600 officers by 2020.