As a self-admittedly difficult teenager, Brittni Atkins of Port Clinton had several encounters with police.

Each time, they acted more like her educators than disciplinarians, so she developed a respect for them, ultimately deciding to become one, she said.

On Friday, the mother of five and a former certified nursing assistant became one of the 29 newest officers to graduate from the 70th Toledo Police Academy during a ceremony at Bowsher High School auditorium in South Toledo. She was also one of seven women in the graduating class.

“I am happy. I'm excited for the next step, and I'm excited to work with people on the streets and hopefully make a difference,” Ms. Atkins, 32, said in an interview, adding that she is the first police officer in her family.

“I was not on the right path as a teenager… [but] police, they were always very kind to me,” Ms. Atkins said.”... So, [becoming a police officer] has always been something I wanted to do. I wanted to help people see police in a good light instead of a negative one.”

Toledo police Officer Prince Flores, a department spokesman, said there’s been a focus on attracting more police recruits, including women and people of color.

“We are looking at every potential candidate we can who is going to help us… whether they're from the city, whether they're from out of state,” Officer Flores said. “.. We're trying to find everybody that we can to come and do this job for the city the best way we can.”

Talking from the podium Friday, Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, said the city had enough money for a 50-candidate class but ended up with the graduating class of 29 who were selected from a pool of about 60 candidates, which he said was not enough to fill up a class of the intended size.

Mayor Kapszukiewicz said the hard part is getting people to apply, while growing the police department has been his focus, with the city police officers increasing in numbers every year since he took his oath of office Jan. 2, 2018.

“...So when we do find the good 29 candidates we have here tonight, we need to celebrate them, congratulate them, pat them on the back, and give them everything they need to succeed,” the mayor said.

Toledo Police Chief Michael Troendle said the new officers will be “hitting the streets” on Monday.

“It's a very important night for the police department,” Chief Troendle said in an interview. “We just really need our officers out on the streets…. Our officers right now are looking forward to having these new officers out there.”

As of early September, 631 officers were serving in the Toledo police department, which, even with the addition of the new officers, falls short of the 700 Chief Troendle said he would like to have.

Growing the force would also allow him to expand other community policing patrols, such as a mountain bike unit, while expanding the detective bureau, he said at the time.

First Published November 4, 2023, 12:14 a.m.