The New Mexico State Police have 19 new officers after graduation ceremonies that took place at the Santa Fe Convention Center.
The officers performed short order drills on Marcy Street ahead of the ceremony.
Inside with family, friends, retirees and other officers from around the state in attendance, New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler told the new officers some stories of other officers who commanded the respect of their peers and the public by the way they presented themselves and told them to remember their calling.
“But it is not I who will write the future of the state police, it is each of you,” he said. “The future is not written in speeches , it is written by the decisions you make in the quiet hours of the night on a DWI stop, the interactions you have with the public each day, even the choices you make away from work that might not seem to matter, but they often will.”
Public Safety Secretary Jason Bowie told the graduates to reflect on the moment they decided to become a police officer and all the people who helped them along the way from family to mentors.
He told them they were stepping up when many others are stepping down and leaving the profession.
Bowie told them to remember they represent not only themselves but the entire State Police Department, not only on duty but when they are out in the community.