Columbus police add 31 officers in smaller academy graduating class when more needed

Wide smiles and proud relatives were abundant Friday morning at the James G. Jackson Columbus Police Academy, as 31 new officers graduated training to join the Columbus Division of Police and 18 others will join other central Ohio law enforcement agencies.

The number of Columbus recruits are significantly lower than other recent classes, which have averaged about 45 new officers. The number is not what Columbus police leadership hoped it would be to help solve staffing issues that have left the division down at least more than 150 officers.

Among those who graduated Friday, none had a wider smile than 21-year-old Prakash Poudyel, the second Nepali officer to join Columbus police. A graduate of Northland High School who was a police cadet prior to joining the academy, Poudyel said he has wanted to be an officer since he was a young kid and after moving to Columbus at the age of 10.

"I saw a lot of Columbus police officers," Poudyel said. "I always wanted to be a police officer."

Poudyel and his 30 classmates are some help to a short-staffed department, but other help is now delayed in coming. First Assistant Chief LaShanna Potts said Friday that police have "pushed back" a second class of lateral recruits from other agencies. This was due to tweaks being made to the program based on feedback from the first class, she said; however, people within Columbus police have told The Dispatch it was because of a lack of interest and low class numbers.

There will be three academy graduations in 2023 in an effort to boost the division's ranks.

Poudyel said he hopes he can make a difference in Columbus and the local Nepali community, including by encouraging other young Nepalis to consider law enforcement as a career.

"Since I'm in it now, I can help them through the process," Poudyel said.

The oldest member of the 138th recruit graduating class — 55-year-old Juan A. Morales — spent 23 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and 15 years in the Illinois National Guard before deciding to begin a second career as a Columbus police officer.

"I want to keep living," Morales said. "I might be a transplant from Chicago, but the red, white and blue blankets one coast to another."

Morales said that even though his two sons are older than many of his classmates, he was happy to be able to learn from everyone in the class and hopes some of his wisdom — partially coming from deployments during the Gulf War and to Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan — was passed on to them.

"They looked up to me, not as a parent, but it was silent motivation," Morales said. "They also motivate me because I've been through life, I've seen the good and the bad. These guys are going to see some horrible stuff. That courage for me, in not knowing what's out there and stepping up anyways, they inspire me to keep going."

Morales said he hopes to work 15 more years as a Columbus police officer, so long as his body holds up.

"I might become a firefighter then," he joked, referencing two members of the graduating police training class who are Columbus firefighters and arson investigators.

The class graduating Friday began with 66 members, ending with a total of 49 people, 31 of whom will join Columbus police. The other recruits will join other central Ohio law enforcement agencies, including Westerville, Worthington, Ohio State University and the Columbus Division of Fire.

Recruits typically leave the training academy due to a lasting injury that prevents completion of physical testing requirements, choosing to leave, or being asked to leave due to performance.

Class orator Kalib Amos, who will join Westerville's Division of Police, may have been responsible for 95% of the questions asked during classes, but he got serious in his speech as he talked about the risks of becoming a police officer.

"We're all human," he said. "Regardless of whether you wear a police badge or an orange jumpsuit, we're all the same. We all need compassion."

Potts said that the new Columbus police officers taking their oaths on Friday — before embarking on 15 weeks of field training — need to continue standing up for what they believe in and what is right.

"From this day forward until the day you retire, you will be in the public eye, open to second-guessing," Potts said.

With the graduation coming hours before Memphis police body camera footage in the death of Tyre Nichols was scheduled to be released, the sentiment carried extra weight.

"When you wear this badge, it's a badge of honor," Potts said. "If you tarnish it, we will hold you accountable."

Related coverage:Columbus police have changed how they count homicides. Here's what that means.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus police adds 31 officers in smaller-than-average academy class