As Newport continues to grow, the city’s police department is growing with it, swearing in five new recruits Monday in what Police Chief Chris Fangman called the largest academy class of his career.
Gannon Torres, William Stine, Nicholas Baldwin, Caleb Smith and Noah Curry took the oath of office during a packed room of support on June 15. Fangman said the five, soon-to-be six recruits will be the largest number of Newport Police Officers to attend the academy together in his (almost 23-year) career.
Fangman said the city is expanding its police department as it rapidly grows with developments.
“The background and the training that we do, it takes a year,” Fangman said. “We will go through their backgrounds, check their credit scores, talk to their best friend from eight years old if we can find them. We have some of the best detectives and background investigators in all of Northern Kentucky.”
Fangman said the recruits will attend the police academy for six months and then return to the department for another four months of training.
“Consistently, we are very well funded,” Fangman said. “We are one of the highest-paid police departments in all of Northern Kentucky, if not all of Kentucky. That allows us to compete with all the major cities that pay really well. A lot of our benefits are way better than surrounding agencies. It allows us to get the cream of the crop, and we refuse to put anybody in this uniform that isn’t the cream of the crop.”
Fangman gave a brief background on each recruit at the meeting.
Torres has been part of the Newport Police Department Cadet Program for a year and is a military police officer in the Kentucky National Guard. Fangman said Torres will be the first Newport Police Officer of Puerto Rican descent. He is a graduate of Highlands High School.
Stine has been a Northern Kentucky resident his entire life. He is also a graduate of Highlands High School. Stine joined the Army in 2016 and served three and a half years as a preventive medicine specialist. He received the Good Conduct Medal for three years of honorable service. Stine earned his bachelor’s in psychology from Texas State University and his master’s in criminology from Florida State University.
“We will headhunt and take anybody that is just a good person,” Fangman said. “We need good people to be police officers, and we can train them to be police officers. We have bankers in this room, we have former anything in this room, and it takes all kinds of people to be a good police department. We’re very well aware of that. So, we’re looking for people across the board when it comes to recruiting.”
Baldwin is also a lifelong Northern Kentucky resident and is a graduate of Dayton High School. He attended vocational school, earning his Automotive Service Excellence certification in mechanics.
Smith is from Noblesville, Indiana. He is currently earning his psychology degree from Xavier University.
Curry is from Oxford, Ohio, but currently resides in Newport. He attended Ohio Northern University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. While there, he was a finalist swimmer and served on his fraternity’s executive board. Curry has also completed a 50k ultra marathon.
The recruits’ family members pinned their badges on them, as is a tradition in Newport.
“Chief, you get your guys out,” Newport Commissioner Ken Rechtin said. “When we’re bringing in new recruits, when we’re promoting people, the camaraderie of your men and women to show up for their fellow people and their fellow employees is fantastic. It’s lovely to see. The families are one thing, but to see all the men in blue, it’s heartening to see, and that brotherhood’s important in that relationship.”
