Jersey City Police Swear In 17 New Officers

Newest JCPD Graduating Class Expands Diversity 

75% of Police Officers Throughout All Ranks Representing Minorities in Nation’s Most Diverse City 

667 Officers Hired Under Mayor Fulop

JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop, Public Safety Director James Shea, and Police Director Tawana Moody welcomed 17 new police officers to the Department this afternoon.   Seven of the officers graduated from the Bergen County Police Academy, with the remaining 10 among the first-ever graduating class from the new, Hudson County Training Center.

Keeping with the administration’s emphasis on diversity recruitment while enhancing public safety citywide, over 70% of the graduates represent various minority populations. When Mayor Fulop took office in 2013, only 769 JCPD officers covered the entire City. To date, 667 new officers have been hired under this administration, growing the JCPD to one of the largest police departments in decades while focusing on diversifying the ranks, with minorities now making up nearly 75% of all officers department-wide.

“We’re not only growing the department in size, but we’re also recruiting quality candidates from within the community that best reflects Jersey City’s diversity. I want to thank our newest officers for their perseverance through months of difficult training and for remaining committed to maintaining public safety throughout Jersey City for the rest of their careers,” said Mayor Fulop. “I have complete confidence the officers sworn in today will be tremendous assets to further build upon our overall commitment to the safety and quality of life for our entire community.”

The added officers will increase police presence and walking patrols, community outreach, crime deterrence, and diversity recruitment initiatives. “Our diversity recruitment efforts have already proven to be immensely helpful when our officers are responding to people’s homes for emergencies, for establishing community relations, and for residents’ overall quality of life,” said Director Shea. “We recognize there is still plenty of more work that needs to be done to combat crime, and these are the types of initiatives that are leading us in the right direction.” The next class is scheduled to start the police academy next month with 38 new police recruits.