WEST WINDSOR—Mercer County dignitaries and law enforcement officials from around the County gathered Aug. 24 to celebrate the graduation of the 19th basic class of police officers from the Mercer Police Academy.

An audience of several hundred family members, friends, and members of a number of law enforcement agencies saw the class of 55 cadets receive graduation certificates to officially make them police officers. The commencement was held inside the gymnasium at Mercer County Community College (MCCC). 

The graduates endured 22 weeks of training at the academy in all aspects of law enforcement and will now serve in many different Police Departments within Mercer County and elsewhere (see complete list below). The cadets are the 19th police class of the Academy, which was created in October 2006 and provides a facility and resources to train law enforcement recruits in Mercer County. The academy is located on the grounds of MCCC.

Elias Vendrell, who will join the Trenton Police Department and was chosen by his fellow graduates as class speaker, said the cadets had made a decision to focus on their service rather than on themselves. “Police officers choose their occupation knowing that it will be difficult, they won’t receive enough pay for what they do, will work odd hours, miss holidays with their families and be placed in volatile and dangerous situations,” he told the gathering. “They’ll put themselves in harm’s way, not for pay, but for the gratification of serving others.”

Also addressing the class were Police Academy Director Martin Masseroni, Mercer County Sheriff Jack Kemler, Dr. Jianping Wang, MCCC president; and Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora. Also in attendance were Freeholders Ann Cannon and Pasquale Colavita, Acting Trenton Police Director Pedro Medina and Hopewell Township Police Chief Lance Maloney, president of the Mercer County Chiefs of Police Association.

During training, the class studied in disciplines such as use of force, firearms, vehicle pursuit, hostage negotiation, advanced crime scene processing, and domestic violence prevention, among others. Several cadets received awards at the graduation ceremony for their excellence in training. Joel Santana, who is joining the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, was chosen by his classmates to receive the Certificate of Merit awarded by the N.J. Police Training Commission to the best all-around graduate. Andrew Mileto, an Alternate Route trainee, received the academic award; Collin Scarpello, Summit Police Department, earned the firearms qualification award; Joseph Avanzato Jr., Alternate Route, received the physical training award; and Andrew Smith, Rutgers University Police Department, received the emergency vehicle operations award.

The Mercer Police Academy consists of two classrooms specially designed for the needs of law enforcement training, and recruits use MCCC grounds, its library and its gymnasium for training purposes. The campus includes a padded training room that is used for “defensive tactics” classes. A shooting range in Hopewell Township operated by the prosecutor’s office is part of the academy as well.