79th Pct. Receives 66 New Recruits

A mix of anxiety and excitement was in the air yesterday, as 66 new police officers started their first day on the beat at the 79th precinct in Bedford Stuyvesant. The men and women were part of a graduating class that just completed six months of intensive training at the Police Academy last month.

After roll call, several of the officers spoke to us about their emotions as they looked forward to their new careers:

Officer Doris Cordero, 21, and a Bed-Stuy native, said, "I grew up in the 88th on Grand Avenue between Myrtle and Park. I'm excited. I feel like I'm coming back to my roots."

Officer James St, Germain, 28, a Brooklynite, stated, "I'm actually pretty excited, ready to hit the streets and communicate with the community, get to know everybody, shake some hands, smile."

Officer John Falzerano, 25, said, "I moved over to Staten Island in July for the job. I'm not really familiar with Bed-Stuy, but I've heard a few things I guess from people that have been from here, and I'm looking forward to helping out the community and helping out the people."

Officer Thomas Sosnowski, 22, from Nassau County, Long Island said, "I'm pretty excited, also a little nervous because it is the first day. But I'm more excited to go out and meet people that I've never met and work in an area that I really don't know much about, so we'll see what happens."

Deputy Inspector Peter Bartoszek spoke on his own excitement regarding the new officers:

"This is the future of the police department, and we're going to get them going in the right direction right off the bat," said Bartoszek. "They will be professional, courteous and respectful to the community and enforce the law so we make Bed-Stuy and the 79th precinct a safer community for the residents, for the people who visit here and for the people who work here."

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