Eight new Akron police officers took the oath of office Wednesday night, representing the first new class in more than five years to be sworn in.
More than 30 veteran officers joined families and friends of the candidates in the packed City Council chambers for a brief ceremony, causing police Chief James Nice to quip: “This is the safest place in Akron right this minute.”
Nice, sworn in as chief last June after 26 years with the FBI, told his new officers, “I hope you have chills going up and down your spine as I did.”
He encouraged the recruits to not file or throw away their oath of office, but look at it often, as he does, as a reminder of the “tradition that the young officers are now walking into.”
Mayor Don Plusquellic administered the oath to Kyle Cunningham, Stanley B. Davis Jr., Erik Fendenheim, Joseph Gmerek, Matthew Scherick, Michael Simmons, Joseph S. Smith and Natalie Tassone.
Plusquellic noted that none of the officers is a rookie; all have experience elsewhere. The fact that they understand the dangers and stresses of the job and still want to do it is a testament to their courage, he said.
Nice said there have been 15 retirements from the force in the past eight months, freeing funds for the hires.
Gmerek, 31, noted that the cutoff for hires is 32 years of age and “I just made it.”
The former Summit County park ranger said he has wanted to be an Akron police officer since he was a 5-year-old boy growing up in North Akron.
“It’s all I ever wanted to do,” he said.
That sentiment was echoed by Tassone, who was most recently a reserve officer with the Silver Lake Police Department.
Tassone, also 31, said getting the call that she had been chosen for the Akron opening “was surreal.”
“I was trying for so long, I didn’t know if the day would ever come,” she said. “But it did.”
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
