Lynn Police Department welcomes three new officers

LYNN – Benjamin Chez knew he wanted to be a police officer when, at age 7, his 4-year-old brother was shot and killed as they both sat in a car in New York City.”That really impacted my life, and I didn’t want that to happen to any other families,” said Chez, 27, after being sworn in, along with Elijah McNeal, 33, and Sadrak Pierre, 36, as a new member of the Lynn Police Department.Chez said he had a “rough upbringing” in New York, but used to play “Cops and Robbers” with his brother, and the two even talked about being police when they grew up.”But God wanted him to be my guardian angel and I know he’s gonna keep me safe,” Chez said.Police Chief Kevin Coppinger said that the men went through 21 weeks of training and an extensive background investigation before being deemed “the best of the best.” They graduated from the Plymouth Police Academy last Friday, and will be eligible as of 5 p.m. today to begin patrols and details.”You are boosting up our police force, which the chief and I have been working hard to do,” Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy told the new recruits. “I’m sure this will be a very challenging and rewarding experience for you.”The ceremony brought the total number of officers to 183, with another four on the way, Coppinger said.”I would love to see the numbers go even higher, to go above 200,” said Kennedy. “As I’ve said, the only way to build this city up is to make people feel safe.”Chez moved to Lynn three years ago because “NYC got crazy.””When you look at it, Lynn is a lot safer than what others are accustomed to,” he said.Pierre, who grew up in Haiti and moved to the U.S. in 1990, is the first Haitian member of the force. He said the ability to speak Creole, French and Spanish gives him an advantage in dealing with the citizens of Lynn whose primary language is not English.Chez and Pierre are also studying criminal justice at North Shore Community College. Pierre has worked as an officer for the school for nine years, but said he wanted to extend his service to the entire community, and especially the Haitian population.”I’ve wanted to be a police officer since I was a kid,” Pierre said. “I want to help make the community I live in safer.”Coppinger said it’s “a plus” for officers to be multilingual.”There’s always a need, especially in Lynn, so the more the merrier,” he said.The new officers will spend their first three months on the force rotating through each of the three patrol divisions, Coppinger said, working nights, evenings and day shifts until they have their “division bids” and are assigned a regular shift.”We’re going to do everything in our power to live up to and surpass expectations,” McNeal said.Taylor Provost can be reached at [email protected].