Mayor Kos today welcomed 8 Police Academy graduates to the City of Chicopee in a ceremony at City Hall.

Joined by elected officials and family members, Mayor Kos reminded the newly ordained officer to never forget the training learned throughout the academy, that “has prepared you for the challenges you will face as you safeguard lives and property, protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder.”

Partnering with Springfield, Chicopee sent 8 cadets to the Springfield Academy in May in an effort to expedite their training and expand the collaboration between the Cities. Combining the training with the Springfield Academy enables the training of 23 weeks to take place sooner.

“Crime knows no boundaries,” said Mayor Kos. “I want to thank Mayor Sarno and Commissioner Barbieri for their cooperation. This is a format that has worked well for both departments as they interact with each other and learn the same techniques as to deal with some of the same challenges.”

This is an effort continued by Mayor Kos since he took office last year. At the beginning of 2014 there were only 106 officer positions. With the help of the City Council, in an effort to expand public safety, the full complement of officers was expanded to 111. 15 total officers have been hired since 2014.

“Going forward we are looking to fill even more vacancies,” said Mayor Kos. “We are expecting a new Civil Service list to be available November 1st so we can get moving on hiring the next round of cadets for the next academy.”