Erie swears in five new officers, adds to the diversity of the city police force
The Erie Bureau of Police boosted its complement and added to its diversity on Monday with the swearing in of five new officers.
The five officers, four of whom graduated from the Mercyhurst University Municipal Police Training Academy last week, increased the city police bureau's ranks to 190 officers, four officers short of its 194-member complement.
The new hires, the third batch sworn onto the bureau since December, include a woman and a Hispanic male. The bureau is now made up of 162 white males, 11 Black males, 11 white females and six Hispanic males.
Mayor Joe Schember was among the speakers during Monday morning's ceremony at Erie City Hall to address the bureau's diversity and the efforts that are being made to improve it. Schember said when he was first elected into office, and his administration made a push to increase the bureau's diversity, they struggled because they were looking too much at the "end," meaning candidates who had already signed up to take the police test.
What the city needed to do, and have done, is get a more diverse pool of people to take the police test, Schember said.
The Erie Bureau of Police has hired 45 new police officers since 2021, city police Inspector Christopher Janus said during his remarks at Monday's ceremony. Of that number, 13 new officers were minorities, he said.
"It shows our efforts are starting to pay off," Janus said.
Who are the new officers?
Sworn in by Schember during Monday morning's ceremony were:
Andrew Berger, 26. Berger, an Altoona native, has lived in Erie since 2015. Berger graduated from Gannon University with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in criminalistics, and recently graduated from the Mercyhurst University Municipal Police Training Academy. He previously worked for Erie County Adult Probation/Parole.
Troy Honard, 28. Honard, an Erie native, is a graduate of Strong Vincent High School and recently graduated from the Mercyhurst University Municipal Police Training Academy. This is his first position in law enforcement.
Jose Montes, 34. Montes, a California native, has lived in Erie for 11 years. He recently graduated from the Mercyhurst Municipal Police Training Academy, but has worked in public safety since 2012. Montes previously worked for the Arizona Department of Corrections, the Erie County Prison, the Erie County Sheriff's Office and the General McLane School District, where he served as school resource officer.
Beth Servidio, 44. Servidio, an Erie native, is a graduate of McDowell High School and what is now Penn West Edinboro, where she obtained a criminal justice degree. She recently graduated from the Mercyhurst Municipal Police Training Academy. Servidio previously worked as a Pennsylvania state parole agent with the state Department of Corrections.
Andrew Turi, 33. Turi, an Erie native, is a graduate of Strong Vincent High School. He previously worked as a police officer at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and Millcreek Community Hospital, primarily working in mental health and de-escalation.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie swears in five new officers onto the city police force
