LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As a new face prepares to take over the role of interim chief, more than two dozen new officers prepare for their new roles on the Louisville Metro Police Department.

Surrounded by family, friends and Louisville leaders, LMPD's newest officers were sworn in for duty Friday morning at the Crowne Plaza on Phillips Lane.

"There's so much time on a 12-hour shift that you'll be able to be out there by yourselves, and we're just relying on you to have that integrity," Second Division Commander Maj. Corey Robinson said.

Class 53 includes five Hispanic officers, five African Americans and three females, the kind of diversity outgoing LMPD Chief Erika Shields said the department needs more of.

"It's going to take time to close the gap, but we are definitely getting a lot of different minds, and I think that's what policing takes," Shields said. 

The new class bumps LMPD's staffing up to 1,050, but that still leaves a shortage of 278 officers. 

Those stepping into their new roles, like Officer Maria Velazquez, said they're aware of staffing struggles and the other issues plaguing the department but hope their fresh perspectives will help.

Velazquez said she believes the city needs "more community engagement, being able to get new blood out there, different ideas. I know that being able to bring in new bodies is going to be a great amount of help."

LMPD Officer Maria Velazquez

This image taken from video dated Dec. 9, 2022, shows LMPD Officer Maria Velazquez following a graduation ceremony at the Crowne Plaza on Phillips Lane in Louisville, Ky. (WDRB photo)

Velazquez and other officers were part of a new style of police academy training that involved academic professionals. The purpose is to have community input in the recruiting process from day one.

It's that training, and the other tools learned over the past six months, that Shields encouraged those new to the team to remember while taking on their new responsibilities.

"At this time that you're coming in and people are really negative and there is still a lot of noise around policing, noise around Louisville, it's imperative you look at what's real," Shields said. "You have to find a way to block out the noise."

After the graduation ceremony Shields had this piece advice for the department's next chief: "My thought is, for whomever is the permanent chief, it has to be someone who, first and foremost, governs with integrity. If you don't stand on what is right, then you are going to never ever get this department in the space it needs to be."

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