Philadelphia Police Depatment expands as 29 recruits graduate amid recent public trust crisis
PHILADELPHIA - 29 recruits graduated from the Philadelphia Police Academy Friday amid the support of their families and friends while controversy swirls around a police killing in North Philadelphia nearly two weeks ago.
The sound of bagpipes fills Temple’s Performing Arts Center as the police recruits graduate from the Police Academy and move to the cusp of their new careers. 25-year-old Azieme Lindsey, supported by his mom and sister, says police work is "a calling."
Asked how he’ll face the ongoing challenges of big city policing, Azieme Lindsey said he’ll take the challenges, "day by day. I don’t have any experience. Everything that’s going to happen on the streets is based on experience I gain."
The joy and beaming pride of the graduation is tempered by the swirling controversy of the police killing of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry as he sat his car in North Philadelphia nearly two weeks ago. The release of security camera video on Tuesday shows officer Mark Dial shooting and killing Irizarry within seconds of arriving after his partner seems to yell Irizarry has a knife. The next day, the five-year veteran of the force was suspended with intent to dismiss for failure to take part in the department’s probe of the killing as an attorney for the Irizarry family promises a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and officer.
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Speaking to recruits, the Police Commissioner gently touched on the underlying controversy. Outlaw said, "these unique challenges are even more pronounced in the ever-evolving landscape we navigate today."
Azieme Lindsey’s mother, who came to the Temple Performing Arts Center, along with her 21-year-old daughter, to watch her son graduate said she did not fear for him adding she knows he’ll, "make good decisions."
District Attorney Larry Krasner will decide if Mark Dial will face criminal charges in the death of Irizarry, laid to rest Thursday. As Dial’s career ends, the careers of 29 new officers begin on Monday as they report for duty in a city likely to severely challenge all they’ve learned.