Link: Many Origins but One Pledge: To Protect and Serve the City - New York Times.
Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Australia.
That’s where the latest crop of New York City police officers comes from.
Also Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize and Bosnia, along with some 50 other countries.
The 1,359 police cadets who graduated in yesterday’s ceremony at Madison Square Garden included 284 immigrants, who hailed from a record number of 58 nations , including Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador and Egypt, police officials said.
...Several of the officers became citizens only a few months before entering the police academy, like Phat It, who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his family fled Cambodia.
“Whether you trace your heritage to Pakistan or Parkchester, to the Dominican Republic or Ditmas Park, you all love our country and you all love our city,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg told the graduates.
The department is growing more diverse by other measures, too. About 28 percent of the new officers are Hispanic, 17 percent are black, and 8 percent are Asian, the police said. About 18 percent are women.
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