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SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - San Francisco and Oakland police departments held a graduation ceremony in a first of its kind, training program for new police officers. On Friday, the 247th class of new officers graduated at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in San Francisco. Three of the members of this class of 42 will go on to become Oakland police officers.
It was a traditional ceremony, complete with bagpipes and the longstanding presentation of colors, but one that spoke of necessary changes.
The oath to protect and serve is the backbone of police work. However, on this night, there was a call to restore the community's faith in law enforcement.
"The trust in law enforcement in some communities [has] been shaken to its foundation," said San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr.
He spoke of the deadly police shooting last month of Mario Woods, an African-American man in the Bayview and the need for police to rebuild trust in the community.
"My family has a terrible record with police," said Ricky D. Williams II, a new officer.
Williams says he grew up in East Oakland where many relatives had run-ins with the law.
He hopes his life experience will help him improve public perception of police.
"Hopefully motivate people to turn to us for help rather than running away from us scared," said Officer Williams.
"This is an unusual night," said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, one of the speakers at the graduation ceremony.
In the new partnership, San Francisco Police is helping Oakland train new officers.
"You are joining this profession at the most critical time in history," said Mayor Schaaf as she addressed the new officers.
Schaaf says this profession is at a crossroads for change.
Daniel Baxley is among the three Oakland officers trained by SFPD.
"Going to San Francisco kind of gave me a template of how to become a police officer," said Baxley.
Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent says the Oakland officers will face additional weeks of training back in Oakland plus field training.
"In a perfect world, we'd train them all in house. We're going to put these guys in a six-week transition course where we bring them back to Oakland to teach them about how Oakland PD does things specifically," said Chief Whent.
This year, there will be a total of 14 recruits who will train with SFPD, but no matter which department these officers will serve, they say they share a common reason for joining the law enforcement family.
"I've always wanted to do something that would benefit the community and give back to the community," said Tiffany Hang, a new San Francisco police officer.
The San Francisco officers still have to complete 16 weeks of field training.