LYNN — The 18 new Lynn Police officers who were sworn in on Wednesday are the largest group of new officers the department has hired in 25 years, according to a department spokesman.
The new officers, dubbed the “COVID Class of 2020,” graduated from the NECC Police Academy on Wednesday and were promptly sworn into their new roles at the Lynn Police Station, said Lynn Police Lt. Michael Kmiec.
The group had been scheduled to graduate from the police academy at Northern Essex Community College in early- to mid-June, but their training was temporarily put on hold when the academy was shut down in April due to the coronavirus.
“It’s a huge addition because if we add them to our patrol division, there will be six new positions on each shift that we’re filling with the 18,” said Kmiec. “In the summertime, when more people are likely to use their vacation time, it will be filling the void with people we desperately need on the street.”
Kmiec could not provide specifics on how the positions were being funded —- the starting salary for a patrol officer is about $50,000 — but he said the hires were likely backfilling past retirements in the department.
The new additions bring the department’s staffing level to 186, but Kmiec said that number will be “short-lived” as five to six police officers are expected to retire this month.
Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary has said in the past that his optimal staffing level for the department is 195, but could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
“We certainly need as many bodies as we can (get),” said Kmiec, who deferred specifics on staffing level goals to the police chief.
Another six recruits are currently in the MBTA Transit Police Academy in Quincy, but the department could see more retirements later in the year, Kmiec said, noting that there were nine retirements last year.
“Our numbers were low to start with and we lost the nine (last year) and we had a couple of retirements already this year,” said Kmiec. “We have many people that have already maxed out their retirement so they can leave whenever they choose to.”
Crime is up this year in the city, Kmiec said, citing the “dramatic” increase in homicides and spike in domestic incidents.
There have been five homicides in Lynn this year, the same number that was reported in the city last year, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s office.
But at this point last year, there had only been two homicides in Lynn, with two more reported last August and another one reported last November, according to DA spokesperson Carrie Kimball.
The new Lynn Police officers are Brianna Anderson, Eric Castillo, Robert Correale, Rachel Davis, Kaylin Deschenes, Michael Donovan, Scott Fiore, Joseph Fleming, Jacob Hodgdon, Daniel Keough, Andrew Kreamer, Anthony Masucci, Brendan Powicki, Ezequiel Rodrigues, Kervin Romulus, Meghan Sullivan, Carina Villanueva, and Kostyantyn Zozulya.
