Phoenix Police Department swears in 11 new officers
Jul 10, 2013, 6:57 PM | Updated: 6:58 pm
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department added 11 new police officers to the force at swearing-in ceremony Wednesday at Phoenix City Hall.
The men aren’t new to the department. They were reservists who, collectively, have been serving in the department for several years.
“All together these officers have donated 30,000 hours of police service to the citizens of Phoenix,” said Phoenix Police Chief Daniel Garcia. “So when we started looking for the 11 we were going to hire, we felt a strong obligation to reward them for the commitment to the citizens of Phoenix.”
The new hires represent better times economically, according to city leaders. The Phoenix Police Department has not grown the number of officers since the 2008-2009 fiscal year because of a hiring freeze implemented during the recession.
“Thanks to sacrifices and concessions made by employees, hard work on innovation and efficiency savings and sound budget decisions, we are hiring a new class of officers just one week into the fiscal year,” said Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton.
City leaders said they have applied for a grant which could allow for the hiring of an additional 25 officers in the near future.
The names of the new officers are: Sebastian Louisoder, Scott Stout, Nelu Podea, Sean Holman, Jesse Jansma, Alexander Lindly, Henry Smith, Richard Sias, Joseph Brown, Dustin Yoshimura and Louis McAnany.