Port Authority Police Department welcomes 71 new officers

The Port Authority Police Department’s 123rd academy at their June 19 graduation ceremony *(PANYNJ)*

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey welcomed 71 recruits from the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) academy’s 123rd class during a June graduation at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey. The new recruits, who represent a class benefiting from one of the PAPD’s most intensive outreach programs intended to identify the most highly qualified recruits drawn from a broad spectrum of backgrounds, join the agency as it bolsters its security initiatives and capabilities amid an evolving threat landscape.

The recruits received their official PAPD shields and identification at a ceremony held at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan earlier in the week, a reminder of the department’s enduring mission and sacrifices made by their predecessors, including the 37 PAPD officers who were killed on 9/11. Among the graduating class are two descendants of officers who responded to the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center. Sean Krueger and Keith Walcott Jr. received their PAPD shield and badge identification numbers from the very heroes who inspired their paths to law enforcement: Krueger’s grandfather, retired PAPD Sergeant Conrad Krueger, who survived the South Tower collapse; and Walcott’s father, retired PAPD Deputy Chief Keith Walcott Sr., who responded to both the 1993 and 2001 World Trade Center attacks.

Retired PAPD Deputy Chief Keith Walcott Sr. and his son, PAPD recruit Keith Walcott Jr.; PAPD Superintendent Edward Cetnar; PAPD recruit Sean Krueger and his grandfather, retired PAPD Sgt. Conrad Krueger. The elder Walcott and Krueger both responded to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and their service inspired a new generation to follow in their footsteps. *(PANYNJ)*

The rigorous recruitment effort targeting qualified candidates brought in officers from a broad spectrum of backgrounds, including African American, Hispanic/Latino and Asian recruits. The class brings a wealth of linguistic diversity, with nine languages spoken —including Spanish, Korean, Bengali, Albanian, Turkish, Haitian Creole, Ukrainian and Chinese (including the Cantonese, Fujianese and Mandarin dialects), in addition to English. A quarter of the class are women, the highest female representation of any PAPD class. Almost half of the class enters the force with prior experience in law enforcement, and 13% are military veterans.

The incoming class arrives six months after the Port Authority’s Board of Commissioners approved the agency’s 2025 budget, which included a record investment of more than $1 billion in safety and security operations. This funding is designed to enhance the agency’s overall security posture and support new initiatives to address both traditional and emerging threats, including cyber and terrorism-related risks.

“These officers are stepping into service at a pivotal moment, when the threats we face are growing more complex, more widespread and more tech-savvy than ever before. From traditional risks to advanced cyberattacks, the challenges to our infrastructure are constant and evolving,” Port Authority Chief Security Officer Greg Ehrie said. “These new members of the PAPD strengthen our ability to meet those challenges head-on and reinforce our commitment to keeping the public safe across every corner of our transportation network.”

The PAPD academy is recognized as one of the most rigorous law enforcement training programs in the nation, requiring 26 weeks of intensive instruction. Recruits underwent comprehensive training in New York and New Jersey state laws, police procedures, firearms usage, first aid and counterterrorism techniques.  In addition to tactical preparedness, the academy emphasizes cultural sensitivity, ethical responsibility and historical awareness as core components of modern policing. As part of this effort, recruits participated in specialized sessions that included a meeting with Holocaust survivor Maud Dahme. This training fosters empathy, strengthens community engagement and reinforces PAPD’s core values of justice and accountability.

“This department is charged with protecting hundreds of thousands of lives every single day, and our officers fulfill that duty with unmatched precision, unwavering professionalism and a deep sense of honor,” Port Authority Police Superintendent Edward Cetnar said. “Graduating from the Port Authority Police Academy is no small accomplishment. It demands relentless discipline, unshakable resilience and exceptional strength of character. We welcome these new officers to the one of the most elite police departments in the nation.”