Sometimes the best things are born out of necessity.

That’s the way Warwick police are looking at the Warwick Police Training Academy, which held its inaugural graduation and swearing-in ceremony Friday morning at the Crowne Plaza. In his remarks, Lt. Matthew Higgins, academy assistant commandant, observed that in order for the department to meet its desired staffing level, the city would exceed the number of recruits it could send to the municipal academy. That wasn’t going to work. It would be too long a wait, but running an academy wasn’t going to be easy, either.

“From day one we knew we needed to meet the rigorous standards set forth by the Rhode Island Police Officers Standards and Training [POST] curriculum. But we also knew that wasn’t enough,” he said. The aim was to create a program that went deeper and was built specifically for Warwick by Warwick. Higgins said recruits pushed through intense physical fitness training, mastered firearms qualifications, learned critical legal concepts, trained in de-escalation and use of force and developed the skills necessary to write clear and professional reports.

Higgins pointed to the necessity to bring the department to its full strength, adding it has become “a foundation for excellence, a proving ground for character and a launch pad for service.”

Captain Robert Hart, academy commandant, said Monday that the newly minted officers were on field-training exercises and that for the next year they will be on a probationary status. Academy training was over 16 weeks and consisted of a number of mock situations including a car crash, domestic violence, mental health incident and an arrest where the recruit handled the situation from responding to the scene, taking the “suspect” to the station and then filing a report. The training even went a step further with a mock, two-hour trial over which Warwick Municipal Judge Kelly McElroy presided. Much of the training was done at the New England Institute of Technology Criminal Justice Facility in Warwick.

With the new officers, Hart said the department is up to its full complement of 175. Nonetheless, he explained, the department is constantly recruiting as vacancies pop up with retirements and personnel moving on to other opportunities.

In addressing the graduates Friday, Hart said, “You are the first to walk across this stage, but more importantly you are the first to carry the legacy of a new beginning. As the inaugural class, you have set the standard, the tone and the expectation for what it means to serve this community with pride and honor.”

He said there was more to the academy than teaching law enforcement tactics and procedures. “We aimed to build a foundation of character grounded in community service, driven by respect and defined by integrity.”

Hart spoke of upholding values and meeting people in what could be their worst moment and “treating them with the same dignity you would offer your own family. It is about patrolling the streets of Warwick not only with authority alone, but with empathy.”

Hart said the oath taken by the new officers is a commitment to the people of our city that you will serve justly.

Hart also spoke about community policing as not a slogan or strategy but rather a philosophy.

“It means knowing your neighborhoods and the people that live and work there every day … it means listening before acting … understanding our strength is not in force, but in trust,” he said.

The newly sworn officers and first graduating class of the Warwick academy are: Evan T. Cummiskey, Nicholas T. Allen, Cordin O. Pereira, Andrew J. Persechino, Jorge A. Ramirez, Kyle M. Deen, Alex T. Bergemann, Nicholas W. Fabiano, Christian A. Martinez, Amedeo Ucci Jr., Jonathan R. Lee, Michael R.G. DiPaolo, Victoria L. Ferreira, Benjamin L. Floyd and Vincent L. Lancellotti.

Receiving awards during the ceremony were: Nicholas T. Allen, valedictorian; physical fitness, Evan T. Cummiskey; leadership, Evan T. Cummiskey and top shot, Jonathan R. Lee.