The largest and most diverse class of its kind in years, that’s how the Minneapolis Police Department is describing its next cadet and community service officer (CSO) class. 

Tuesday, inside a north Minneapolis church, the class of 32 received a warm welcome from city and state leaders. 

“There were years where the thought of joining the Minneapolis Police Department was not a thought that people were following through with,” Mayor Jacob Frey said to the future officers and attendees. 

There’s still more work ahead before they’re sworn in as officers, but the department feels this is a great step and trend they hope lasts. 

“Some of our cadets and CSOs are born in countries all over the world, whether it’s Somalia, Turkey, Taiwan, Vietnam and Laos,” Chief Brian O’Hara said. 

“They want to be here because they want to be part of the change,” Chief O’Hara later said about the future officers joining the department in the midst of transformation. 

To start the new year, the MPD has 579 sworn officers — while far from the about 900 at its peak, O’Hara is feeling better about the future given the size of this class. 

“Today is evidence we have turned a corner in Minneapolis. There clearly is hope that we will rebuild. We will get through this, and I’m incredibly proud to see that there’s some pride returning to the Minneapolis Police Department,” O’Hara said. 

One by one, the cadets and CSOs briefly shared why they chose this path, including CSO Joel Santana. 

“I want to be part of an organization that values community engagement, respect and accountability. My journey becoming a CSO was about gaining hands-on experience and learning what it truly means to serve in law enforcement,” CSO Santana said. 

The CSOs have a much longer journey before becoming a police officer — including still needing to complete a two-year law enforcement program — the cadets could be sworn in as early as this summer.