The Madison Police Department is proud to announce the graduation of thirty-one officers on Friday, February 1, 2008. The graduation ceremony will take place at the Monona Convention Center at 6:00p.m.

This group of new officers began their pre-service training on May 29, 2007. Graduation is the culmination of twenty-two weeks of instruction in the Academy followed by twelve weeks of field training, where recruit-officers are paired with veterans when responding to calls.

In keeping with past hiring traditions, the current graduates bring an eclectic background of life and work experiences. While there is a seasoned array of individuals with time spent in law enforcement, military occupations and security in the private sector, these "traditional" paths are complemented by/with a number of customer-focused/private sector/social service vocations (i.e., job coaches for developmentally challenged adults, Boy's & Girl's Club coordinator, psychiatric social worker, realtor and substitute teacher---to name a few).

A thumbnail sketch of the class reflects an average entering age of 27, 84% have a bachelor's degree or above, and one third of the class is comprised of women and people of color.

Effective on Saturday, February 3, all thirty-one officers will be immediately assigned to Patrol Services, throughout the City, working hours of 3p-11p or llp-7am.

These officers are not part of the much talked about "30" authorized by the Common Council to be hired in 2008. These projected officers will be part of one of two groups:

The MPD will soon begin training a group of twelve veteran officers (who will be part of the "30") coming to our City from other agencies/departments. This has been labeled our "accelerated" academy pilot program and consists of eight weeks of Academy training followed by nine weeks of field training. Start-up date for the accelerated academy is February 25.

The MPD will also stage our annual "conventional" academy, commencing on May 27, 2008. It is hoped 18 candidates will be chosen.