By Vic Ryckaert
Indianapolis Star
For Carmon Lile, becoming a police officer is her way of giving back to the community.
“It’s the ultimate public service,” Lile said Monday, minutes after she swore an oath to become a member of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. “If you’re going to do something, might as well do it 100 percent.”
Lile, 25, was among 73 recruits who join the third IMPD Law Enforcement Training Academy class and the largest recruit class in Marion County law enforcement history. That record won’t stand for long, as officials expect to conduct two classes of 100 recruits in 2008.
Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson made it clear to the new recruits that much is expected of them.
“It takes a very special person to do what you will do,” Anderson said, addressing the recruits during a ceremony at the academy, 901 N. Post Road on the Far Eastside. “This is one of the very few jobs where you sign a contract and you put your life on the line as collateral.”
The recruits will spend the next 25 weeks learning skills such as marksmanship, emergency driving, hand-to-hand combat, criminal law and basic Spanish.
After graduation, they will spend five months in the field, patrolling alongside a veteran officer before they will earn their own squad car.
Bryan Fitzgerald, 30, gave up seven years as a police officer in Portsmouth, Va., and moved his family to Indianapolis so he could join the larger, metropolitan police force.
“This is a new start, a new beginning,” Fitzgerald said.
Although some crime is down in Indianapolis, the recruits will have a tough assignment. Homicides are down 20 percent from a near-record high last year, but the county has seen a rise in other violent crimes.
From January to July, robberies were up 24 percent, aggravated assaults were up 31 percent, and residential burglaries were up 18 percent.
Nicole Headlee, 23, said she’s been drawn to police work all of her life. She studied criminology at Butler University and knew she wanted to join IMPD after she served an internship with the department.
“I like the idea of helping others and the challenge,” Headlee said. “I love a challenge.”
David Miller, 25, started out studying medicine at Purdue University but ended up switching majors and getting accepted by the department.
“I wanted to work on a big-city department,” Miller said, noting he likes helping people and enjoys the fast pace and constant demands that will come with patrolling the streets.
“I tend to be at my best under pressure,” Miller said.
Chief Michael Spears told the recruits they are embarking on a career that will forever change their lives.
“You will see the human spirit in a way that you will never imagine,” Spears said. “There’s no walk of life more noble than that of giving to others.”
Copyright 2007 The Indianapolis Star