Five new South Bend police officers sworn in
SOUTH BEND — Growing the number of officers on the South Bend Police Department took another step forward Wednesday morning when five officers were sworn in.
The police force now stands at 248, a level city leaders said last week is partly responsoble for improving crime statistics for the first eight months of the year.
Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski formally introduced the five newest officer recruits — four Aug. 18 graduates of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and one experienced officer from New Chicago, Ind. — for the Board of Public Safety to approve.
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Al "Buddy" Kirsits, board member, former longtime member of the South Bend and Penn fire departments, and current director of the county's Emergency Management Agency, spoke to the officers on what it takes to be a public servant.
"In today's public safety world, it's about managing your risk out there," Kirsits said. "Police officers, to manage their risk, I just don't know how they do it because things happen so quickly in the life-changing decisions you have to make on the fly. So listen to your training officers, the experienced officers that are good officers, keep up with your training all the time and make good decisions out there. And be safe and have a great career."
More officers, less crime
The added ranks to the police force come at a time when gun violence incidents in the city so far this year is less than the same period in 2022.
So far in 2023, 533 gun violence incidents have been reported, which is down from 617 incidents in the same period in 2022. The city also has had 50 criminally assaulted shooting victims so far this year, nearly half the number in 2022 when the city had 89 victims.
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Police administrators said they had to scale back the staffing in patrols and areas such as the detective bureau when police force numbers had dropped to 215 to 220 officers during 2020-22. With the increasing numbers since that time, South Bend Police Operations Chief Dan Skibins said they have been "backfilling" the staffs in patrol and detective divisions to the point that the force can bolster on-street patrols and perform investigative duties with more resources.
Five officers sworn in
City Clerk Dawn Jones swore in probationary officers Kassandra Duran, Andre Mathews, Robert Neufer, Quentin Phillips and Faith Quintana:
■ Kassandra Duran: Duran is a 2019 graduate of Bremen High School and graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Indiana University East. She has served as a cadet in the South Bend Police Department in the photo lab processing crime scene photos and plans to pursue a master's degree in forensic psychology.
■ Andre Mathews: Mathews is a 2009 graduate of Merrillville High School. He served since 2012 as a emergency medical technician and firefighter before joining the New Chicago Police Department in 2021 where he was involved in staff training for his department.
■ Robert Neufer: Neufer is a 2015 high school graduate and went on to Grace College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business management. There, he met his current wife. He was inspired by his parents' military service and has fulfilled his dream of becoming a police officer.
■ Quentin Phillips: Phillips is a graduate of South Bend Washington High School and Ball State University and has served eight years in the U.S. Army Reserves. He said he is guided by a mission to serve a mission and a vision that is greater than his own, that involves God, country and family.
■ Faith Quintana: Quintana is a graduate of Mishawaka High School and participated in cross country and soccer in college. She formerly worked at the Youth Service Bureau's Safe Station and the Elkhart Juvenile Detention Center.
Email Tribune staff writer Greg Swiercz at gswiercz@sbtinfo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Police add five officers to force
