Nineteen police recruits born and raised in the District graduated from the academy Friday and were sworn in as officers on the D.C. police force, a break for a department following a year-long hiring freeze.

       Wp Get the full experience.Choose your plan ArrowRight

       All the recruits started out as cadets in a program for high school graduates that helps pay for college and is designed to attract Washingtonians, who are familiar with local neighborhoods and customs, to the department.

       “The beautiful thing about this class is you come from the communities we serve,” Chief Robert J. Contee III told the graduates and their family members at a ceremony at the training academy.

       Class member Breandan Burke said they were not trained “to be some kind of super cop,” and he promised Contee in his address that this group would deliver a “more dedicated, motivated and compassionate police officer.”

       Advertisement

       Story continues below advertisement

       D.C. police have about 3,550 officers, 200 fewer than a year ago and the fewest in more than two decades.

       District officials blame budget cuts imposed by the D.C. Council in 2020 amid efforts to reshape and downsize the force, while lawmakers dispute that narrative.

       D.C. police recruits are learning about Black history, go-go music and half-smokes. Leaders think it will make them better officers.

       Earlier this year, as gun violence and homicides mounted, the council agreed to allow police to hire another 80 or so officers, and a recruitment drive is underway. Members of Friday’s class were hired before the freeze.

       In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday awarded the D.C. police a $3 million grant to hire an additional 25 officers. Officials said the grant will pay for recruiting and training the officers, as well as their salaries for three years. After that, the District will pick up their pay.

       Story continues below advertisement

       The recruits who graduated Friday join a profession from which officers across the country are leaving.

       Advertisement

       Contee, who began his police career as a cadet in 1989 to escape a neighborhood in Northeast Washington struggling with crime, said that “with these young people, we begin to change the culture of police.”

       Ten of the graduates are women and 18 are people of color. Many were raised in neighborhoods underserved by resources and overburdened by crime.

       Contee told them they will face “the underbelly of humanity that happens in our city,” while helping people “at their worst possible moments, when everything in the world has gone wrong for them.”

       “There is no us and them,” the chief said. “We are in this together.”