By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A class of more than 1,600 new police recruits took the oath of office Wednesday, after budget cuts delayed the hiring of many by several months.
The 1,635 recruits, who will enter the Police Academy next Monday, represent the largest class since 2006.
More than 500 cadets were supposed to have been sworn in last April, but their class was delayed because of budget cuts.
"We're shifting the April class to July and will do a combined class then," Stu Loeser, the mayor's press secretary, had said at the time.
"While the City’s fiscal situation remains difficult, we are committed to maintaining and building on the dramatic improvements in public safety achieved by the NYPD over the last decade," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement announcing the new recruits.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly welcomed the class at the Brooklyn College Center for the Performing Arts with a message that stressed duty and building relationships with residents.
"Whether this is your second career or your first job out of college, your skills and life experience are invaluable to our mission of reducing crime, defending against terrorism, and forging cooperative relationships with the people we serve," Kelly said in a statement.
"I look forward to joining Mayor Bloomberg this winter to celebrate your graduation."
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who had previously criticized the April delay as ill-advised, also congratulated the new recruits, describing serving on the force as "among the highest forms of public service."
"The NYPD deserves tremendous credit for making our city the safest big city in America, and if we want to keep it that way, we need to give them every resource we can," she said.
The new class, which is the first since the class that graduated in December 2010, is 86 percent male and more than half white, according to numbers released by the city.
Sixteen percent of its members were born oversees, with recruits hailing from 55 different countries around the globe.
Many also have previous experience as School Safety and Traffic Enforcement Agents and more than 30 percent hold bachelor’s degrees. Nearly three-quarters served in either Iraq or Afghanistan, the city said.
