Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams swears in 11 new police officers.
Soon, Harrisburg will have nearly a dozen new police officers on its streets.
On Thursday, the Harrisburg Police Bureau swore in 11 officers, one of its largest classes of new officers in recent years.
“On this day, we welcome 11 new officers into our family, the greatest police force in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said Mayor Wanda Williams at the swearing-in ceremony held at Whitaker Center.
After a months-long selection process that began in August, 10 of the officers will begin training this month at HACC’s police academy, followed by in-house training with the bureau. According to Police Commissioner Thomas Carter, the training process may take about a year to complete. One officer has already completed police academy training and will move straight to in-house training.
With the new hires, the bureau’s complement of sworn and civilian officers now includes about 160 people.
Among the new officers is Daniel Donovan, 64, who came to the bureau as a retiree, following a 34-year career as an attorney with the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps and U.S. Department of Defense.
During the pandemic, Donovan saw the struggle that police departments were facing in terms of recruiting officers and wanted to step up to the plate, he said.
“I thought, my health is still good, my children have grown, I have a few good years left to serve, and I felt that if good people don’t step up and try to help, then the police bureau doesn’t have the manpower it needs,” he said.
Carter sees this attitude as part of the reason why the new class is so large compared to past classes. During the pandemic and during nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, fewer people were joining police departments, Carter said. However, he believes the trend is now shifting.
“More and more people are willing to serve,” he said. “People feel that they can make places safer and are willing to do that.”
The newly sworn-in officers include the following:
- James P. Bard
- Marco G. Benitez-Soto
- Elliot D. Christman
- Sean J. Cigich
- Daniel G. Donovan
- John J. Grant
- Steven C. Gray
- Jared A. Nouzovsky
- Thomas L. Oxenrider
- Evan A. Ramos
- Robert C. Tritch
“I’m so proud of these officers because they have answered the call,” Carter said.
Additionally, bureau officers Travis Banning and Donald Bender were promoted to the rank of corporal. Banning has been with the bureau since 2015 and Bender joined the bureau in 2009 and works in the K-9 Unit.
If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!
