Mercer County Police Academy graduates 18th class of officers

 

Mercer County dignitaries and law enforcement officials from around the county gathered at Mercer County Community College on Friday to celebrate the graduation of the 18th class of police officers from the Mercer Police Academy.

An audience of several hundred family members, friends, and officials saw the class of 45 cadets receive graduation certificates. The graduates completed 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.

 

Peter Buchanan, who will join the West Windsor Police Department and was chosen by his fellow graduates as class speaker, saluted his classmates for their perseverance during their time at the academy.

“These weren’t an easy 22 weeks for us,” he said. “We sweated, we hurt and we were tested mentally and physically time and time again. We have failed, we have fallen and we’ve been knocked down. Yet the men and women of this class have always found a way to get back up and come together as a team.”

Several cadets received awards at the graduation ceremony for excellence in training. Michael Tilton, who is joining the Trenton Police Department, was chosen by his classmates to receive the certificate of merit awarded by the New Jersey Police Training Commission for the best all-around graduate. Peter Buchanan of the West Windsor Police Department received the academic award; Kyle McGuire of the Ewing Police Department earned the firearms qualification award with a perfect score; Christian Crawford of the West Windsor Police Department received the physical training award; Adam Joyce of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office received the emergency vehicle operations award.

Following is a list of the graduates and the law enforcement agency each will join:

Bordentown Township Police Department: Michael Moloney

Bridgewater Police Department: Kristofer Grimm

Ewing Township Police Department: Kyle McGuire, Matthew Wherley and Charles Wyckoff

Florence Police Department: Korey Linico

Hamilton Police Department: Denita Allen and Alexander Zuzzio

Hunterdon County Sheriff’s Office: David Gaughan

Mercer County Sheriff’s Office: Garrett Bezek, Marvin Deleon, Adam Joyce, Brandon Kent and Jason Magrelli

Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office: Chantel Church, Jeffrey Dominguez, Victor Hojasbravo, Jose Malave, Robert Massa and Steven Sabo

New Jersey State Park Police: Carolyn Edwards

Princeton Police Department: Ryan McDermott and Adam Santos

Somerset County Sheriff’s Office: Christofer Aboosamara and Samuel Marton

Trenton Police Department: Manuel Acosta, Dariel Bacilio, Christopher Bustamante, Anthony Cariola, Walter Deleon, Julio Estrada, Nicholas Hogan, Cornell Huff, Anthony Kubish, Lukasz Kulis, Corey McNair, Lizmary Rivera, Vishan Singh, Hector Solares, Michael Tilton, Derick Tosado, Tamar Williams and Gregory Woods.

West Windsor Police Department: Peter Buchanan and Christian Crawford