 Oh, wow. Look at this. This is wonderful. How wonderful this is to see so many faces in this place and to see all these folks here on this really wonderful and auspicious day. So welcome and thank you for being here with us on this exciting day. I am John Mirad. I'm the chief of police. Mayor Weinberger is here with us today and as are all of you. And so thank you. I want to thank and welcome the family members, especially of the folks, including little ones who are here because I know how much family members share the burden of this unique and challenging but tremendously rewarding profession. We are very fortunate to have Mayor Merrill Weinberger with us here today and I will now turn it over to him. Well, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for joining us. I can't quite remember a time when this room was so full of officers and family members. Thank you all for being with us. I see that we've been joined today by the U.S. Attorney, Colo Karris. Thank you for joining us, Colo. And also I see at least four members are City Council here, President Paul, Sarah Carpenter, Mark Barlow, Tim Doherty. Thank you all for joining this event. This is an important moment in the careers of the folks in the front row here and a milestone for all the families in the room and really an exciting sign of hope and progress for the people of Burlington. For those of you receiving your promotions today, thank you for your continued commitment to serve our community and congratulations on this achievement. For those who are new to the Burlington Police Department and for some of you a career in law enforcement, I hope that you will find as I have that serving the City of Burlington and its people is the opportunity of a lifetime. Burlingtonians care deeply about their neighbors. We embrace equity and hard work to foster a sense of belonging. We are proud of our spectacular public spaces and our thriving and diverse small businesses and artists. And we take seriously our stewardship of Vermont's only major airport and other vital pieces of public infrastructure. For Burlingtonians and visitors alike, our city is a place where lifelong memories are made. And all of this and more is for you to protect and to serve. Burlingtonians have made clear time and time again that they agree public safety is the most important function of local government. We are proud as a city government to be leaders and restorative justice and court diversion. We are proud to be innovating new public safety resources and expanding our capacities for human services to support people living with challenges of homelessness, of addiction or mental health. These are areas the city only recently really started making major investments in as a city government. We are proud of our excellent detective unit, our specially trained emergency response unit and of all the officers who spend their days and nights on patrol keeping the streets of this city safe and welcoming. And I am proud and grateful today to offer you one more thing that every world class police department needs and deserves. And that's the confidence of a strong and a reliable leader. In just a few minutes, I will be officially swearing into the post of chief police, John Murad. From the day he stepped into this office, Chief Murad has faced tests with little precedent in Burlington. His first summer in this role saw large sustained protests just outside the front door. We lost 40% of our officers in his first two years and 2022 was a year of record high gun violence and two frequent disorder in our treasure downtown. Chief Murad has led from the front through all of this and for its progress in many areas as today's ceremony will demonstrate the chief has successfully worked to rebuild our ranks and expand the department in important and exciting ways. Further, while we continue to face a historic epidemic of drug overdoses and unprecedented housing pressers, downtime Burlington is returning to being the welcoming and vibrant and safe public space that we've long enjoyed. And through all these challenges, the chief has continued the department's proud legacy of being one of the most transparent and progressive departments in the country. In short, Chief Murad is delivering the progress on public safety that the people of Burlington are demanding action on. Chief, we're grateful to see you standing here today. And I am grateful too to your family and I specifically, Vani, and I know we made MacArthur stand somewhere in the back because right there here, we didn't make him stand and we were threatening to make him stand. And to the chief's parents, Tim and Joanne, thank you all for your support of the chief through the challenges of the recent years. So with that, you know, this is a moment we've all been waiting far too long for. So let's get to it. Chief, please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state your name. I Jonathan Murad, do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly swear and affirm that I will faithfully execute the office of chief of police that I will faithfully execute the office of chief of police for the city of Burlington and the state of Vermont for the city of Burlington and state of Vermont. On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character or the public trust on my honor. I will never betray my badge, my honor, my character, my integrity or the public trust. I will have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always uphold the Constitution and the community I serve. I will always uphold the Constitution and the community I serve. I will therein do equal right and justice to all men and women. I will therein do equal right and justice to all men and women to the best of my judgment and ability to the best of my judgment and ability. According to the laws of this state and the United States of America, according to the laws of this state and the United States of America under the pains and penalties of perjury under the panes and penalties of perjury. Congratulations. Thank you sir and I am I'm so grateful for for your support for your guidance the mayor has been incredibly supportive of this agency always but particularly over the last three years that have been that have been challenging for all of us for our community for this department for the mayor and his support has been unwavering thank you very much sir for being here today coming away from family to be here I am I'm tremendously grateful there there is no ceremony when you get a job at a store or a restaurant but there is one here and it is because this is one of the greatest professions in the world it is one that is fundamental to the well-being of our free and civil society why because our department is committed to making Burlington safe and fair everywhere for everyone and our department is you it is it is all of you it is especially the people who serve who work here it is people and that's why this day is so important we need good people and I think that we are getting great ones now we'll meet many of those new people shortly but first we're going to meet some of the leaders that they are joining these are officers who stepped forward and looked to leadership these are the officers who want to take care of the people who take care of us as a city and for the families of those of you who are joining the department today these are the officers who are going to make sure that your family members are guided and grown so let's meet our promoters and we will start with our deputy chief Brian Labarge you'll step forward Brian was appointed acting deputy chief from the rank of lieutenant on July 1st of 2022 and then was officially appointed the no longer acting deputy chief of administration but the deputy chief of administration on June 6th of 2023 once I had been promoted so he had 340 days in the acting role a little bit less than the 1089 that I had but nevertheless he really stepped up at a time where we needed him where we needed somebody to be in that role Brian has had a an exemplary career a career in which he has been a leader on patrol in the detective bureau at the Chittenden unit for special investigations or Cousy some of the most difficult and challenging cases that we can ever see as police come at Cousy which deals with sex assaults and crimes against the elderly or the very young Brian has led these parts with with a plumb and and currently leads our detective bureau as the deputy chief of administration so what we've seen over the past year plus that was Brian as well as members of the detective bureau but the incredible success that we've had with the unprecedented violence that we saw in 2022 that we are not seeing repeated in 2023 was the leadership of Brian Labarge I am tremendously grateful that you stepped forward and and joined and took this role and I am grateful constantly for your advice and guidance and I thank you very much so Brian will stay here and then we will ask the other ranks that are being promoted up at which point all will be given the oath together and that oath will be administered by deputy chief LeBreck you want to do this one separately yes all right 10 for that is how it works most of the time which is that Wade gives me looks that tell me I've done something a little bit off and it's time to correct and redo I state your name I Brian Labarge do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly swear and affirm that I will faithfully execute that I will faithfully execute the office of chief of deputy chief of police the office of deputy chief of police for the city of Burlington and the state of Vermont for the city of Burlington and the state of Vermont on my honor on my honor I will never betray my badge I will never betray my badge my integrity my integrity my character my character or the public trust as a public trust and I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions I will always uphold the Constitution and the community I serve I will therein do equal right and justice to all men and women to the best of my judgment and ability according to the laws of the state and the United States of America according to the laws of the state under pains and penalties of perjury so then proceeding on we have several members three members who are being promoted from sergeant to lieutenant and I would ask all three to come up and then step forward as I talk about each of you so that is Michael Belevo Jacob Seller and Richard Weynich Mike Belevo has led the detective bureau since March and he led the narcotics unit before that I have long admired Mike's investigatory acumen but more so his innate decency soon after I arrived here at the Burlington Police Department in 2018 then chief del pozo asked me to participate on the task force that was investigating allegations of abuse and worse at the former st. Joseph's orphanage Mike was one of the lead investigators he showed incredible compassion there were many living victims from that orphanage people who are older now but were still carrying a lot of pain and trauma from their experiences there and Mike was incredible with them since then I have watched him close homicide investigations and shooting investigations and assault investigations and drug investigations and we are immeasurably grateful for his steady hand Jake Seller Jake is a reliable doer in his 12th year with the BPD he is the kind of leader who's calm and measured demeanor spreads among those he guides officers go to him for advice for help because they know that he will deliver his style isn't flashy and he doesn't call attention to itself but it is there it is steadily moving the ball down the field or keeping the train on the tracks or keeping the ship afloat and take your pick of metaphors I have never heard a complaint about Jake not from citizens and not from cops he is a pillar for us be or the uniform services bureau or patrol which is the very heart of our mission and we are thankful that he is stepping into this new role as lieutenant and rich winish for the past two and a half years detective sergeant rich winish has led the Chittenden unit for special investigations or Cousy as I said before Cousy is a multi agency task force that provides criminal investigative services in response to reports of sexual assault and serious sexual offenses of both children and adults and cases of serious child abuse and neglect or infant fatalities and allegations of human trafficking these are are terrible crimes they are not easy to deal with as you can imagine they take a toll and rich leads a unit in a way that makes sure that all those people are are moving forward together that the toll that that takes is minimized owing to the leadership that he has in which every team member is respected everyone is valued and all are heard gentlemen thank you very much for stepping forward the next is from corporal or officer to sergeant it is often said that the promotion to sergeant which is the first supervisory rank of policing is the biggest leap in an officer's career moving from responsibility over one's own actions and goals to accountability for others is a significant transition and I am grateful to the next three officers for making that leap so would Phil Tremblay, Chase Favore and Oren Verne please step forward. Phil Tremblay Phil has been exceptional since he joined the department in 2012 he is currently the sergeant in charge of the narcotics unit he was previously the BPD's representative on the DEA task force in 2021 his efforts led to the seizure of several hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash an amount of drugs that had a street value of close to half a million dollars and several illegally possessed firearms and led by his efforts the drug unit that year made 28 arrests in less than that year nearly half of which were adopted federally by the U.S. Attorney's Office it is no small feat to get cases adopted by the U.S. Attorney's Office their standards are quite high Mr. U.S. Attorney and I believe that the presence here is indicative of the respect with which they hold Phil and and his time in that role he will continue to be a leading co-op you know partner for them in his role as the drug sergeant chase Vavori he is a patrol procedures instructor a field training officer an emergency response unit member and a certified breaching instructor he's a crisis negotiator he's an eye cat instructor he teaches here and at the Vermont police academy chase seems to do it all he served with distinction on patrol and then was assigned to the street crimes unit throughout 2017 more recently he has been an integral part of the drug unit and he too I think is a reason why the U.S. Attorney is here he doesn't stop while he's off the clock either while off duty last year he spotted the vehicle and the shooting suspect from a murder that had happened in City Hall Park he maintained visual on that vehicle called in on duty officers and they made the arrest that is exemplary and we are grateful that chase is stepping forward into a leadership role and last but certainly not least orange burn detective corporal orange burn wears more hats than you see at the car for the derby he's got limbs instructor master taser instructor patrol procedures instructor tac med instructor active shooter instructor counter ambush instructor and at the heart of how we as an agency approach de escalation and deceleration he is an eye cat instructor in 2022 he was an integral part as a general detective of the detective services bureau team that addressed shooting after shooting and murder after murder he was also a member of the BP O.A. team that helped negotiate our new contract and that contract is at the heart of our efforts to rebuild or and I thank you too for all that you do and for stepping forward into this role. So to all these supervisory promoters I extend our thanks more will now be asked of you but the rewards of leadership are indeed great caring for your people encouraging their successes and guiding them through challenges. It's always where sergeant the city of Burlington my honor I will never betray my badge my integrity my character will always have the courage hold myself and others. A chemical for our actions I will always uphold the Constitution and community I serve I will there in I will do equal right and justice to all men and women to the best of my judgment according to the laws of the state in the United States of America under the pains so we call sworn officers sworn officers because of that last bit in that oath the pains and penalties of perjury it is not something that our professional employees have although they too take an oath as do all city employees to serve our fellow and to be part of this community. But the pains and penalties of perjury part means that the officers are under a different kind of burden it allows them to file sworn statements it makes the work that they do more applicable in court but it also provides a heavier expectation on them. That said we we also have obviously other kinds of employees here in this department and in fact the balance of this department is changing quite a bit used to be about 80% sworn officers and now we're about two-thirds sworn officers. That change is happening because we're creating new and different roles. Some of them however are roles we've had for quite some time. One of the first professional promotions that we have today is the emergency communications manager. Now dispatch is what emergency communications is. Emergency communications or dispatch is the lifeline of any department in any community. It is where you go when you need to call for help and it's also what tells the officers who want to help where to go. Larry Barbot is actually already demonstrating why we made him our emergency communications manager because he's in dispatch right now covering for a dispatcher who is going to be sworn in as an emergency communications specialist. It is he has been with us many years and we are grateful for him stepping forward to that. Similarly our community service manager is not with us today. She is a she has been in the past a community service officer. Community service officer is one of those professional positions that we are increasing in the department that is changing that balance that I talked about and it's one that we've had for a very long time but in the past only had two. We have expanded that to be a lot at eleven. We currently have five I believe and when we expanded the role in that way we needed a manager. So one of our community service officers was promoted to community service manager and that is Cassandra Sterling. Both of them are terrific employees and I regret that they're not here with us today but we will be thinking of them. Pardon. So we are now going to swear in six professional employees who have joined us since our last ceremony in February and I'll ask all of them to come up and then as I give a brief introduction to each I'll ask him or her to step forward and once that's done we'll administer the oath of office to all six together. So if we will if we can have our thank you if we can have our professional employees come up. Savannah Robson is first an emergency communication specialist. Again the ECS role is a lifeline. It has been understaffed in the past. Last year we got down almost to I believe five. It's supposed to have at least twelve and we're currently allotted fourteen. That's what's necessary in order to have a twenty four hour service that runs not only dispatch for us but eventually and ultimately dispatch for fire as well. We need to grow we need to first hear because this is the first voice that the public hears when it's looking for assistance. They're tremendous responsibilities with that and I am grateful for the folks who have stepped forward into this role. Savannah was born and raised in Bennington. Sorry. Oh sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Wrong direction. Step forward please wrong side. Born and raised in Bennington. Thank you. Graduated from Mount Anthony Union. You joined the Vermont Army National Guard as an intelligence analyst shortly after that and has been in the guard ever since. Savannah has been on one deployment and after arriving home she joined the Bennington Police Department as a dispatcher. But looking to to expand she she moved from home came to Burlington and joined us full time as an ECS here. In her free time she likes hiking and foraging and spending time with family and friends. Thank you for being here with us. David Solly. David is also an emergency communication specialist. He was born and raised in Ohio. He moved to Vermont in May once he received the job offer here. He earned a bachelor's degree from Youngstown State University in Ohio. He worked as an EMS dispatcher prior to moving to Vermont. He's a lifelong Ohio football fan. Is that a requirement if you're from Youngstown? Pretty much. And he enjoys cooking, fishing and hiking. Sarah Tim Hernandez team is our public information and community engagement coordinator. Sarah is originally from Wisconsin. She relocated here to Vermont from Germany, however, where she was previously. She was earning her master's degree there and working with the State Department's mission to the United Nations, including with their public affairs team in New York and the human rights affairs team in Switzerland. Sarah lived and worked in Mongolia with the Peace Corps as an education and community development specialist. She is a law enforcement advocate, which we are grateful for and she is excited to be joining to help us tell our story. She's already doing that. She's making incredible efforts and has jumped right into the role going to block parties, going to NPA meetings, having coffee and conversations with counselors and commissioners. She and her husband, Brian, are excited to explore New England and make this their new home. Thank you. Anhad Bajwa is our recruitment coordinator. Anhad was born in Palmdale, California and raised in Clovis, California, and she is a first generation Sikh American. She is fluent in Punjabi and English. Anhad graduated from California State University Fresno with a bachelor's in science and biology, and she graduated from Fresno Pacific with an MBA. In California, she volunteered at the Sikh Temple for Sunday School for many years and helped coordinate and host many charity and community events. She moved here to Vermont in December of 2022 after her husband attained a lead TSA position at the Burlington International Airport. Her hobbies include trying new things, reading, working out, spending time with fashion and friends, excuse me, with family and friends and fashion. There's a fashion in there. Sital Doolal. She is a community support liaison. Now, community support liaisons are yet another position that we have created and are working on in order to change that balance in the department and meet needs that we have not previously been able to meet in the way that we want. The CSL role was based largely on a position that was occupied by the woman who's now the supervisor of the CSL team, Lacey Smith. But I had long thought that what Lacey did was absolutely integral to our community, working with the homeless, working with people who suffer from substance use disorder, working with people who have mental health issues, particularly chronic mental health issues that sort of metastasize into being quality of life issues for their neighbors. And Lacey was so good at that that I said, why don't we clone her? And we did. We created this position, the community support liaison or CSL. It is a position that has allowed us to have a much deeper relationship with the community. It also allows officers to be able to bridge that gap between going to a situation, addressing the safety concerns, saying we've achieved some stability and safety here, but what do we do next? This isn't our area of expertise. Instead, we say we've got this other group that we can refer you to that knows how to connect you with services, knows how to give you the kinds of support that you need. And it's been tremendously successful. Satal joined the BPD as a CSL in March of 2023. And previously, she held multiple roles at the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants or USCRI in the Vermont Field Office. She was born in Bhutan and grew up in Nepal and speaks Nepali, Hindi and English. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in biology in Nepal. And after college moved here to Vermont, began working with the Refugee Resettlement Program, helping new immigrant communities navigate our sometimes complicated systems. And she's continued that practice of helping people navigate by coming to the BPD as a CSL in order to bring new Americans and the law enforcement community together. She enjoys family time, hiking, biking, traveling. Thank you. And finally, Lindsay Samson, a records clerk. Lindsay grew up in Ferndale, Michigan, just outside Detroit and moved to Vermont in 2005 for college. She received her bachelor's degree in history from UVM and a master's degree in library and information studies from the University of Alabama. Lindsay enjoys swimming, biking, photographing cemeteries, reading and playing Dungeons and Dragons. She just spent three weeks in Poland this spring. And I hear you liked it a lot. I loved it. So thank you all. Deputy Chief Labarge, who is the Deputy Chief of Administration and runs our professional teams, will step forward to administer the oath. I agree, my integrity, character, public trust, or the public trust, I will always have the courage, I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions, to hold myself and others accountable for our actions, I will always uphold the truth, I will always uphold the truth and the community I serve. And the community I serve. Thank you all. We have a couple of additional acknowledgements to make prior to moving on to our new recruits. And those include our Victim Service Specialist, Hannah Brizlin. The Victim Service Specialist is an employee of both the BPD and the City of Burlington's Community and Economic Development Office, or CEDO. And the Victim Service Specialist provides support for victims of crime and harm in Burlington. Hannah comes from eight years of advocacy work and is excited to bring that experience into their work as a Victim Service Specialist. Hannah embraces a community based philosophy and restorative practices in their work. And their hobbies are exploring nature and hiking. Hannah has a dog named Trilly and a cat named Windo and they both bring great joy to their existence. Zoe Portless, who I don't believe is here with us today is our city data analyst and she too deserves a shout out. The city data analyst is a position that's employed at the Office of City Planning, but is predominantly and largely attached to the Burlington Police Department, helping us create data that supports Comstat, that supports BTVstat, that is at the heart of the reports that we produce, particularly our annual report, which covers overall incident volume, traffic stops, arrests and titations, and use of forced statistics. And Zoe is terrific for that. And last, but certainly not least in these positions is Cole Hayes, our senior network administrator. Where are you Cole? Cole's in the back. Come on, you can stand. Cole was an employee here as a network administrator. He left us for a brief while, remained with us however, as a temporary employee. He is instrumental in the work we do. Anyone in the modern era knows that you got to have IT. And Cole is an expert at that. It is it is not just the day to day help desk requests about, you know, how do I get this email out? Or geez, what happened? Why did this freeze? But it's more serious stuff as well. It's cybersecurity for this facility. It is compliance with federal rules around how we handle data. And it is also helping with the detectives. Every single camera in the city of Burlington appears to use a different kind of system in order to be in order to record its video. And Cole is instrumental in making certain that when we get that video in, we have some way to actually be able to watch it. And video is a very, very important part of how we solve cases. We also have our beach and parkers here with us today. I think they're all in the back standing there in their very bright yellow clothing. Matt Halperd, Matthew Halperd is part of our beach and parks patrol from Nova Scotia, Canada. He's currently at Norwich University studying criminal justice. He's been a student athlete for most of his life and is an ice hockey player. I think in 2002 he received the character player of the year from the Maritime Hockey League. Desmond Hooper also with the beach and parks patrol graduated from BHS, worked in the summer of 2021 at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, worked with beta technologies, and came to us as a beach and parks patrol officer. They are the friendly faces that you see on the marketplace or on the bike path or at the beaches, walking informational kiosks, eyes and ears for the police department and really important members of both the community and the department. And finally Samuel Moutar also graduated from Burlington High School and the Burlington Technical Center in 2019. He's bilingual and speaks Romanian. He's currently a student at Champlain College and took this position in order to gain field knowledge about the criminal justice system while he's there. He's worked at Haniford Supermarkets. So did I, Samuel, that was my very first corporate gig was working for Haniford back when it was still called Martins. So thank you very much to the three of you for being part of this team. And now it is time for our new police. And I would ask the probationary police officers to come up and join me. Class attention forward March about base. That was impressive. Thank you very much. These men and women are about to embark on 16 weeks of Academy training. They'll be learning about community policing and fair and impartial policing and addressing mental health crises. They'll be getting training in the use of force, firearms, fingerprinting, forensics, and those are just the F's. There's also precision driving and domestic violence and drug recognition and motor vehicle law and counterterrorism and interview and interrogation and juvenile law and and and it is a lot. There is a lot that they will be looking at over the next 16 weeks. And the Academy is just a piece because when we get you back, we are going to expose you to how Burlington does what we do differently. And I believe better. You will have at least 580 hours of field training with experienced officers by volume and variety. The men and women of this agency do more and see more than those of any other agency in the state. And we are going to expect a lot of you. And I know that you will deliver Corporal Carolyn Irwin, who has is our recruiting officer and has been leading them through their pre basic week and getting them ready to go down to the Academy has been working with you a lot. But you came to us with unique life stories and skills and abilities and we chose you from hundreds of others because you have the ability to become the future of this agency. So let us meet the future one by one. Michael Malik. Michael is the only child of Anita and Gabriel Malik. He is a native Floridian and just moved to Vermont three weeks ago. He attended FSU and graduated cum laude with a BA in English. He taught English at Cypress Bay High School in Broward County, which is the largest public school in Florida. Michael is a competitive triathlete. He received fourth place in his age group at the 2018 US Triathlon Long Distance National Championship and qualified to represent Team USA at the 2018 excuse me 2019 Long Distance Triathlon World Championship. The instructors are going to have a lot of fun with you. They are going to work you and see how far you can go and whether or not you keep moving. It's going to be great. You'll love it. Step back and Mason Schuster. Mason was born in Burlington, Vermont, and grew up in Colchester. He graduated from Norwich University with a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice and a minor in Criminology, Psychology and Sociology. Mason had an interest in law enforcement since he was very young and he worked as a beach and parks person like those three other individuals that I just mentioned to you. That generated a love for this department and the Burlington community. His hobbies are spending time with his family, golfing and skiing. Next is and you can step back. Thank you. Next is Saja Almogali. Saja has been a community service officer or CSO for the past five months. And I told you a little bit about that CSO role and how important that is. It addresses quality of life issues. It doesn't have a firearm. It's not armed. It can't make arrests. But the members of the CSO team can issue tickets. So they deal with issues around the city that are important to our neighbors. Issues around noise, issues around crashes, issues around animal control. Saja was born in Baghdad, Iraq. She is fluent in Turkish and Arabic and proficient in ASL and Turkish. She moved, I think I said Turkish, fluent in Turkish. I meant fluent in English. She moved to Burlington, Vermont in 2017. That year she was invited to speak at the United Nations during peace day and speak about the issues affecting recently arrived refugees. In 2018, she received the governor's certificate of welcome awarded by Governor Phil Scott for being a recently arrived immigrant success story. In 2022, she became the youngest Burlington School Board commissioner ever and still remains active. Saja graduated from UVM in May of this year with a bachelor's in health and society and a minor in biology. She spends most of her free time volunteering at UVM Medical Center. And we are very, very grateful to have her. Step back, Saja. Eric Goldman. Eric was one of the first CSLs that we hired in 2021. And we've talked about the importance of that role. Eric's specific area of responsibility as a CSL was dealing with people with substance use disorder. Eric moved to Vermont from central New York back in 2013 after completing a degree in psychology at SUNY Genesco. He worked in a communications role with the state of Vermont for several years while also working as a bartender in downtown Burlington. And then in 2016, he began working with the Howard Center Street Outreach team. And here he gained some familiarity with BPD while also gaining deep familiarity with Burlington's most vulnerable populations. He also worked as a substitute at times at Howard Center First Call and the Community Outreach Program. So through bartending and street outreach and now his CSL work, this is someone who has developed a deep knowledge of Burlington and its vulnerable populations and the many service providers that are doing great work here in the community from CEDO to the Howard Center to the hospital. And we know that he's going to leverage that in his policing. Outside of work, Eric is an avid mountain biker. He's the vice president of a nonprofit chapter of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, which oversees and maintains several mountain bike trail networks in Chittenden County and he likes going on rides, group rides and doing trail work. Step back, Eric. Maeve O'Donnell. Maeve was born and raised in Queens, New York and she is the middle child of three sisters. She graduated from St. John's University in May of 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and a 3.9 GPA. She went through the Homeland Security Investigations Explorer program in 2019 and she worked a year and a half as a New York City Police Department, Police Cadet. Cadets are positions in the New York City Police Department that are among the most important. They make the place run in very small and quiet ways, moving in and out from places, running things from one office to another, being there in the room a lot for things that allow them a great deal of sort of insight and extra experience as they see whether or not policing is something they want to do. She also worked as an usher at the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway that had something like 14,000 performances over 35 years. How many did you do, Maeve? Corporal Irwin tells me that she is not sure if Maeve likes running, but she is a very good runner. That too will stand you in good stead down there. They will test that for you. Thank you very much. Step back. So we shall administer the oath. And for those sworn officers who are in the room today, if you would like, you may take this oath with them and renew your own. Do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute that I will faithfully execute the office, the office, a probationary police officer, a probationary police officer for the city of Burlington, for the city of Burlington and the state of Vermont, and the state of Vermont. On my honor, I will betray my badge. I will never betray my badge. My integrity, my integrity, with a public trust, I will always have the courage, I will always have the courage to hold myself and others, hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always uphold, I will always uphold the Constitution and Community, the Constitution and Community. I serve, I serve. I will therein, I will therein do equal right and justice do equal right and justice to all men and women, to all men and women, to the best of my judgment, to the best of my judgment, and ability, and ability according to the laws of the state, according to the laws of the state and the United States of America and the United States of America under the panes, under the panes and penalties of perjury and penalties of perjury. Our new police recruits. Thank you. There, there's a quote that I love that's attributed to a woman named Margaret Mead. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. So to all our new employees, welcome to that small group of citizens. Welcome to this amazing job. Welcome to a camaraderie that you won't get anywhere else. And I think the fact that we have so many people here who have, have joined us from other positions, who have moved through other positions in this department and stayed with us in those positions is a testament to that. It is a job where the right mixture of compassion and accountability and authority and common sense can make a difference in people's lives and the health of your community. It is a job that is bound by duty and tradition and it's sometimes tinged with heartbreak. It can be hurry up and wait. It has more paperwork than you can possibly imagine. But there is more potential for satisfaction than any other job. You find order and chaos. You are a source and symbol of safety. There are late nights at crime scenes. There is finding lost kids. There is helping people through difficult times. There's grabbing bad guys. There's comforting victims. It can be 99 percent routine punctuated, punctuated by one percent of unbelievable adrenaline and thrill and excitement. But you will never doubt that this job that you do matters. You will be frustrated at times. You'll have hard days. But the lesson of the past three years, the reason we are working so hard to rebuild is that you know that our community knows that we know that strong cities need good police. If rebuilding is the most important goal we currently have and it is so we can address our community's needs and the calls that come from our neighbors, then the most important thing that we can do is recruit great people. Burlington wants and deserves great cops and we will not. We cannot compromise on that standard. And looking at these employees today and their families, I am confident that we have not. We are in the midst of one of the most important periods that this agency has ever known. It is a rebuilding effort that we haven't experienced in more than half a century. And all of you are part of that effort. You are the foundation on which we are rebuilding. This is a high stakes job. It is a high stress job. But it is a highly rewarding job. And as I've said it before, it is impossible to have a great life unless it's a meaningful life. And it's very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. I cannot promise all of you a great life, but I can promise you a meaningful life because I can promise you meaningful work. I'm here for it. And I am very, very glad to have you as all new team members to be here for it too, so that we can work together with and for the neighbors that we serve in order to make sure that this city stays safe and fair everywhere for everyone. Thank you very much.