amid turmoil in Patterson the police department swears in one of its largest classes in City history the 29 new recruits are entering the academy in the midst of a state takeover of the force attorney general Matt platkin announced the Takeover four weeks ago in the aftermath of a fatal police shooting of violence intervention specialist Naji Seabrooks and a string of convictions against former officers within the department for misconduct and other civil rights violations the city is reportedly asking State officials for five million dollars to help offset costs associated with the intervention this morning's ceremony is now being seen as the start of a long journey ahead senior political correspondent David Cruz reports it's still a very Noble [Music] regardless of what you see in the media regardless of what a very small percentage of this population says this is a noble profession where you get to help people each and every day state appointed officer in charge Fred Fife stuck to the speech you'd expect all new recruits to get as they enter the academy protect and serve but these are not regular days at the Patterson PD now under State control the department has become the symbol of everything that is wrong with policing and police community relations former Patterson mayor Congressman Bill pasqurell didn't try to avoid the obvious the past few months have been challenging for everybody if we ignore that and slip it under the desk or under the carpet we're losers it's a tough job this is not for the movies this is not a photo op the department and this community have Grown Apart in unprecedented ways and instead of protecting and serving some Rogue elements within the department have been beating stealing from and shooting unarmed residents May Andre Saya has stood behind his police force even as Community anger and distrust have grown I commend you for accepting the challenge to want to be a police officer in the current climate in our country it's not an easy profession but it's an important one you have to think differently as a cop and you have to train cops differently today yeah that's how you reimagine policing Public Safety they're not Warriors they're Guardians so that's how we put it into perspective it's unfair to judge a class of recruits on the day before they report to the academy but some of these recruits are very young and their answers to reporters questions suggest that the next six months of training will be critical so what's going to be different from this class no matter what race Creed color you are we all bleed the same we're all going to be treated the same and fairly for the message for the city itself we'll be here to help no matter what the cost is everyone will be here these are good people all around but some activists are skeptical that Patterson Police will be reformed or that reform is even a goal far too often what we um do unfortunately is equate Public Safety with um police and that can't be the case anymore that Public Safety comes with access to more resources the safest communities don't have more police they have access to more resources better jobs better housing better education more Recreation so why if you want to make our city safer you are trying to cut Recreation by over six hundred thousand dollars we don't need that we need more um increase in our Recreation budget we need to invest in hospital-based intervention programs we need to invest in harm reduction programs these are the things that are actually going to keep us safe those words never came up into the a ceremony Law and Order and protecting and serving were the watchwords if the department is undergoing a period of self-reflection it didn't seem to be on display here today and that's part of the challenge that lies ahead for Patterson and its people I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight news [Music]