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COVID-19 Meant No Family, No Handshakes for Newly Sworn Tulsa Police Officers

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On graduation day for Tulsa Police Academy Class 117, cadets marched to their spots at the Tulsa Police Memorial with no one but their fellow graduates and superiors around.

In a first for the department, the 26 new officers and a fire marshal could not have their families present or shake hands with the chief or mayor, and they stood in a formation to allow six feet between each other.

The Tulsa Police Department broadcast the ceremony on Facebook.

"These are strange times that we’re in. We are in the midst of a pandemic, and the work does not stop just because of that for us," Chief Wendell Franklin told the new officers before swearing in his first class.

"The burden of order lies upon your shoulders, and you are going to be the ones that carry that into the next generation," Franklin told them.

The academy graduates picked up their badges from a table, maintaining distance from each other the entire time.

One new officer, Brody Chapman, still found a way to have his dad, Tulsa County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Randy Chapman, pin his badge on his uniform. Brody stopped by the TCSO offices after graduation.

TPD is planning an event to recognize the class with families invited after social distancing guidelines are eased.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.
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