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Tulsa Police Department graduates 100th class

by: NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
Friday, June 26, 2009
6/26/2009 4:15:27 PM

Documents: View a copy of the program and see photos of the Tulsa Police Academy graduates.

The Tulsa Police Academy graduated 10 officers today despite the city’s budgetary woes that threatened possible layoffs of the officers before they even graduated.

Union and city leaders announced that Tulsa’s police and firefighters will take eight unpaid furlough days with the rest of the city’s workforce to alleviate the financial situation. The contracts, reached after weeks of negotiations, still must be ratified by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 93 and Tulsa Firefighters Local 176 memberships before they are final.

Today’s class is the 100th class to graduate from the academy, said Maj. Rod Hummel. It is also the first academy in which all of the officers graduate with a top rating in the Coopers Fitness Test and all averaged an A grade in academics, Hummel said.

Police Chief Ron Palmer said that it may have been one of the smallest classes that he has seen, but the nine men and one woman who graduated on Friday proved themselves to be survivors.

“They have demonstrated courage and tenacity to take on the challenges of our society and to protect and serve our citizens with little regard for their own personal safety,” Palmer said.

The officers come from a variety of backgrounds, including education, professional baseball and banking. Two of the officers are the sons of Tulsa police officers.

For most of the academy, the class contained 11 cadets, but Tulsa Police Cadet Chris Westcott, the son of City Councilor Rick Westcott, resigned amid controversy over the legality of his police employment. State nepotism laws prevent the city from hiring a relative of an elected official while the official is serving.

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