Press Release (PDF)

Oakland Police Department

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 22, 2013

Oakland Police Department 166th Academy Graduates

Oakland, CA

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Friday, March 22, 2013 at 10:00 AM, the 166th Oakland Police Academy graduated at the Scottish Rite Center. This is the first Oakland Police Department graduation in over four years.

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan was joined by Mayor Jean Quan, City Administrator Deanna Santana, Assistant Chief Anthony Toribio, Deputy Chief Sean Whent, Deputy Chief Anthony Rachal, Deputy Chief Eric Breshears, Captain Paul Figueroa, Gilbert Garcia, Captain Ken Weaver of the Vallejo Police Department, Sergeant Barry Donelan, Lieutenant Mary Guttormson, Officer Nancy Cerecedes, Officer Robert Romero, Officer Shane Tarum, and dignitaries and representatives from the City.

The ceremony brought cheers from the crowd as Chief Jordan announced the names of the new officers and spoke of how uplifting and motivational it is to have new officers join the ranks of the Oakland and Vallejo police departments. The Chief went on to say, “These new officers, the future of law enforcement, have joined our family today and will be serving our community tomorrow.”

The Academy started with 56 recruits and today 40 successfully completed the six-month course. Thirty-eight of the graduates will serve the City of Oakland and two will serve the City of Vallejo.

Oakland Police Department graduates were: Nicole S. Allen, James Ashford, Justin Thomas Belligan, Joshua Bianchi, Remy Binder, Robert Brian Blakely, Ken Bui, Ross O’Halloran Burruel, Michael T. Chung, Daniel Cornejo Valdivia, Kyle M. Dickson, Jonathan Breck Douglass, Luis Espinoza, Rickey Han, Anthony Hutzol, Anthonie Francina Jones, Kristine Jurgens-Duenas, Kevin Kelly, Amerra Kesterson, Michel Khem, Curtis Kingman, Dana Lee, Austen Leffler, Dung Le-Nguyen, Volodymyr Lipunov, Brenton Lowe, Chau Dang Mai, Anthony Martinelli, Zander Molina-Yepsen, Brendan Michael O’Brien, John H. Palmer III, Nicholas Brandon Petersen, Michael Ransom, Cedric Terrell Remo, Tracie Jean Shea, Karl Templeman, Thomas Thurston, and Julie Yu. Vallejo Police Department graduates were: Lenard M. Alamon and Matt Samida.

Also honored at the event were seven graduating dispatchers: Jolene Cota, Nicole Friend, David Ha, Irma Hernandez, David Miles, Danisha Smith, and Stephanie Valdivieso.

The 167th Academy was in attendance. They start their six-month training on Monday, March 25.

While most trainees received their badges from Chief Howard A. Jordan, seven had the honor of being pinned by members of their own family who also serve or served in lawenforcement:

Trainee Justin Belligan was pinned by his brothers, Oakland Police Officer Jason Belligan and Santa Clara County Sheriff Deputy Jeremy Belligan.
Trainee Ross Burruel was pinned by his brother, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Brad Burruel
Trainee Kevin Kelly was pinned by his father, San Francisco Police Inspector Jim Kelly
Trainee Brenton Lowe was pinned by his father, Chief of the Federal Reserve Bank and retired Oakland Police Captain Frank Lowe
Trainee Nicholas Petersen was pinned by his father, Oakland Police Officer Cris Petersen
Trainee Thomas Thurston was pinned by his father, Oakland Police Officer Steve Thurston
Trainee Jurgens-Duenas was pinned by her mother, retired Alameda County Sheriff Lieutenant Debra Jurgens-Lewis, and her father, retired Oakland Police Officer TK Lewis.

Vallejo Police Department graduates Lenard M. Alamon and Matt Samida were pinned by Vallejo Police Captain Ken Weaver, who also conducted the oath of office.

Four members of the 166th academy were honored for their achievements during the six-month training period. Officer Anthony Martinelli was awarded Top Gun for highest overall score in the firearms qualification practical examination, which includes both shotgun and handgun testing. Officer Jonathan Douglass was awarded the Physical Fitness award for achieving the highest overall point total in the physical training assessment tests and the POST work sample test battery. Officer Austin Leffler was honored for excellence in academic achievement for highest combined total in all academic learning domains. And for highest overall academic and performance standing in the class, Officer Brenton Lowe was named class valedictorian.

Our new officers are a diverse mix of ethnicities, and nationalities. Seven are women; 31 are men. Most are college graduates. Several are bilingual (in Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Russian, Farsi, and even American Sign Language).

With palpable pride, the new officers vowed to protect, honor, and serve.

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