Above: New Boston Police Officer Vanessa Gomes Barbosa took the oath on Friday at the IBEW Hall on Freeport Street, one of 50 new recruits sworn in and now on the job. The new officers follow a class of 100 recruits that hit the streets last fall. Seth Daniel photos
The Boston Police Department escorted 50 new officers into its ranks last Friday (Jan. 9) with a swearing-in ceremony held at Dorchester’s IBEW Freeport Hall. The freshly minted academy class will help fill vacancies that have emerged over the last few years due to retirements, promotions, and lower numbers of police recruits locally and nationwide.
“Enjoy today,” BPD Commissioner Michael Cox told the recruits and the full auditorium, “because tomorrow you go to work for real.”
The new officers, who started their journey at the BPD’s Academy in Hyde Park some eight months ago, will further fortify the department’s ranks, which inducted 100 new officers last fall. About 40 of them were deployed into Dorchester and Mattapan’s two major police districts, C-11 and B-3.
Cox urged the new officers to build community relationships, something they prepared for in the academy along with building up physical fitness or law enforcement training.
“It’s the mission of each of you to build trust,” Cox said. “We thought we would exceed or match a 66-year low in homicides we had in 2024, but we weren’t able to do that. We did match the second [lowest number] in 66 years. Our hope is that Class 66-25 will get us there or perhaps down to zero.”
Cox also highlighted the many legacy stories among the new badge-holders, meaning people who have parents already serving on the BPD or in law enforcement. They included several young people from the neighborhoods, and even a brother-and-sister duo – Grace and Christopher Larkin – whose father, Brian Larkin, is on the BPD.
Mayor Michelle Wu stressed the work that recruits will do in the neighborhoods.
New Officer Daniel J. Campbell with wife, Keeghan, newborn baby Zoe, and his father Danny – a retired federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agent. Officer Campbell will begin his career in Dorchester.
“This oath today is about what you do every day after,” she said. “Every minute you spend in our neighborhoods, you choose to uphold these oaths…You’ve chosen to serve our neighborhoods in their community’s hardest moments.
“The City of Boston has your backs, and we will support your leadership and efforts,” she continued. “The safety of our city is the foundation that everything else is built upon.”
A solid core of Class 66-25 are young people looking to make policing their career. Officer Zenilda Gomes Pires, for instance, celebrated with family and fellow Dorchester native Officer Manny Andrade. Officer Michayla Aliyah Young, who grew up on Stonehurst Street in the Bowdoin-Geneva area, is another example. Her dad is DPD Det. Al Young. She comes from a family that was dedicated to helping to make Bowdoin Street safer in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Officer Manny Andrade and new Officer Zenilda Gomes Pires.
Her mother, Susan Young, a coordinator at Bowdoin Street Community Health Center at one time, recalled taking her daughter to Halloween parties and safety meetings alongside Father James ‘Doc’ Conway. On Friday, all were present to see the next generation step into a career in service.
“I have been such a part of the community since a young age,” said Michayla, who has been assigned to Jamaica Plain’s E-13 district. “At the time I had no clue what was going on, but it re-shaped my mind seeing Boston as a whole…I want to now serve the community that served me and show what it means to be a community.”
The ceremony ended with the official “log-on” over the police dispatch system by Dept. Supt. John Flynn – the former B-3 captain who now presides over the police academy – announcing the graduation of Recruit Class 66-25.
Supt. Nora Baston, Susan Young (mother), Father James ‘Doc’ Conway, new Officer Michayla Aliyah Young, and her father, Det. Al Young. Seth Daniel photos
Officer Brunyr Jean-Francois with, from left, his father Brunex, Sara Jean-Francois, and Martha Prophete. Seth Daniel photos
