“It has been a lifelong dream,” said new West New York Police Officer Tate Whisten, who is following in the footsteps of his father and uncles. “[Police work] has been in my family.”
Whisten was one of the seven residents sworn into the West New York Police Department at a ceremony held on Feb. 21.
Like Whisten, many of these officers were fulfilling lifelong dreams on Wednesday and others just enjoy the work.
“I always wanted to become a police officer,” said Perez. “I have admired police officers since I was a kid.”
“I did [police work] when I was in the Army,” said Cassius Grasso, who was assigned to the military police unit during his two years in the United States Army. “I enjoyed it so much I wanted to carry it into my civilian life.” With the addition of these new officers, the department is now up to 122 officers, only one man short of the full police department that West New York envisions.
“Since I have been in office, we have placed about 50 police officers to the force,” said West New York Mayor Albio Sires. “We are getting a department that we can all be proud of.”
All seven of the new police officers will be assigned to the Urban Enterprise Zone unit of the police department.
Through the UEZ Police Hire Program – which began three years ago – 10 police officers were hired to patrol within the zone.
The zone includes all of Bergenline Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard, 60th Street from Park Avenue to Kennedy Boulevard, and parts of Broadway. “The first stop is always UEZ,” said Police Director Joseph Pelliccio. “It is a patrol unit.”
In the UEZ unit, the officers will be put in two different squads, concentrating mostly on Bergenline Avenue.
Whisten, Perez and Grasso joined Daniel Braico, Carlos Mateos, Osvalo Gomez and David Martinez as the department’s newest officers.
Preparing for the job
Before spending 22 weeks in the Passaic County Police Academy, the new officers underwent two and a half weeks of in-house training with the town’s department to prepare for the academy. Five of the new officers graduated from the academy on February 9.
Whisten and Grasso, who graduated from the academy prior to working for the Hudson County Sheriff’s Department, were put on the street immediately after being hired in August.
“We did not receive one complaint about these officers while they were in the academy,” said Sires.
“We even forgot they were up there,” said Pelliccio. “That is how quiet it was.”
After graduation, the officers took part in another two and a half weeks of orientation and training with the West New York officers. This training was meant to keep the officers up-to-date on new policies that the department has.
“The only complaint I have,” joked Sires at the ceremony, “is that when they are on Bergenline Avenue and the girls start chasing them, they can’t walk around with six girls behind them.”
Making room for the new
In order to make room for the new officers, seven members of the UEZ unit will be transferred to other units within the department.
According to Pelliccio, two of these officers will be sent to the department’s motorcycle squad.
With the addition of the two officers, the motorcycle unit – introduced to the department in October – will now have a full squad of 11 men.
The new unit is within the traffic division of the department and is used mostly to control traffic, patrol the parks and perform special details. The other five officers are being transferred to the patrol unit.
“We try to make patrol our priority,” said Pelliccio. “The strength of our department is in patrol.”