(The Center Square) – The Chicago Police Department has welcomed 201 new officers.
CPD honored the graduates and newly-promoted officers during the department’s Graduation and Promotion Ceremony at Navy Pier earlier this week.
Police Superintendent Larry Snelling thanked the graduates for taking on a job that most people wouldn’t do.
“You will run into issues. You will run into people who don’t like you or don’t like what you represent,” Snelling said.
The superintendent asked the graduates to remember why they took the job.
“Do you want to help someone? Do you want to make the world a better place? That’s your why,” he said.
Snelling also thanked family members, who worry every day that their loved one will walk out of the house with the uniform on and never return home.
“That is always a great possibility, but it shows you the nobility of the profession that someone would take that on and take that kind of risk when they don’t have to,” Snelling said.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson expressed his gratitude to the graduates and promoted officers for their courage.
“What greater love than one can ever display is one who is willing to lay down their lives for a friend,” Johnson said.
