Twin brothers now working together as Oakland cops

(KTVU) Oakland - - "Please raise your right hand and repeat after me."

With that instruction by Assistant Police Chief Paul Figueroa, 33 young men and women joined the ranks of the Oakland Police Department today.

It is a time-honored tradition, but a new beginning for the 173rd Academy class.

But it was extra special for Oakland natives Isaiah and Isaac Harris. They are 25-year-old twins.

At a ceremony today at the Scottish Rite Temple near Oakland's Lake Merritt, Isaiah, who became an officer in 2014, proudly pinned the badge on his brother, Isaac.

Raucous cheers echoed through the auditorium as it was announced, "Pinning on Trainee Harris' badge is his brother, Oakland police Officer Isaiah Harris."

Isaac and Isaiah started out in the same police academy in 2014. But Isaac didn't pass his emergency driving test, and went through the academy again.

Now, they're side by side, officers in the city where they grew up, and attended public schools.

They may look identical, but they're actually fraternal twins. Isaiah has two moles on his cheek and is about 36 minutes older. But their name plates on their uniforms are exactly the same: "I. Harris."

"I'm super excited," said Officer Isaiah Harris. "I mean, basically, you know when I graduated last year in 2014, I felt like half of my dream was accomplished, just because my other half wasn't with me. And now that he graduated today, I feel like it's now completed."

Officer Isaac Harris said, "You know, it's surreal. I always imagined, pictured this dream coming true, but once it's actually here, it feels surreal, so, blessing and glad to be part of the team."

Asked if two of them was better than one, Isaiah Harris said, "Definitely."

Their mother, Christal Byrd, couldn't be prouder.

"I'm just grateful and thankful that they both have accomplished a dream that they had since 5 years of age," Byrd said.

The twins are among many officers who already have relatives wearing the badge.

"There's a lot of family in law enforcement," said Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent. "We see that many times where we have lots of pairs of siblings, that one of goes into law enforcement and then a sibling follows them. People follow their parents into law enforcement."

Officer Casey Fought had his badge pinned in on by his dad, retired Oakland police Officer Tyler Fought.

"Thank you for staying such a good, being such a good role model for me, all those years," Casey Fought said.

"Oh, my pleasure, my pleasure," his father replied.

For everyone, this was a day of celebration.

Officer Ryan Tioyao said he had every reason to savor his accomplishments.

"I'm first one in my family to be in law enforcement, so I'm very proud."

Tioyao was surrounded by more than dozen family members and friends after the ceremony. They were asked how they felt about him, and they responded with an ebullient roar.

The 33 new officers bring to 754 the numbers of officers in the department. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and city leaders have said that they want 800 officers on the force by the end of 2017.

"This is a great family that you are about to join, the city of Oakland family," Schaaf said in an address to the graduates. "It's an amazing community that you will now have the privilege of serving. Thank you so much." 

Today, department officials gave special thanks to Oakland police Sgt. Mary Guttormson, the academy coordinator, who is retiring from the department this week. Guttormson has helped shepherd hundreds of recruits during her career.

As is the case with each academy graduation, the crowd roared with laughter as a video played depicting some of the more extreme parts of the recruits' training, from getting Tased by shock weapons, to walking through a gas chamber to getting pepper-sprayed. 

Besides officers Fought, Isaac Harris and Tioyao, the officers from the 173rd Academy who were sworn in today were: Jonathan Adaya, Jesus Alvarez, Todd Alvarez, Telisha Anderson, Boshai Boutta, Timothy Cavins, Danny Chor, Joseph Courtney, Darrin Del Carlo, Joseph Duran, Stefan Edinburgh, Nathan Fong, Rebecca Garcia, Jose Gonzalez, Adam Hall, Wesley Huynh, Amanda Jimenez, Rosalia Lopez, Christopher Mar      Christopher Meyer, Lai Nguyen, Nicholas Patane, Gustavo Plasencia, Bryan Reggi, Marco Rosas, Alexander Schmarzo, Zemen Tewolde, Silvestre Triana, Richard Tupou and Alexander Vukasinovic.

Hall was selected as class valedictorian for his overall excellence during his academy training.