Rochester police welcome six new officers

(ABC 6 News) – Wednesday, the Rochester Police Department welcomed six new members to join their force, but for some of them, this was not their first time taking an oath.

“I’ve been a police officer since I was 19 years old,” newly sworn officer James Kenison said.

James Kenison left RPD in 2019 to start up a business, but after the problems that covid caused, he had a change of heart.

“I just made the decision that it was time to rejoin my law enforcement family and come back to the profession that I love and enjoy.”

He’s looking forward to serving the Rochester community once again.

For other officers, this was the beginning of their law enforcement career, and they’re excited to have this opportunity.

“It feels great, I’ve worked pretty hard to get here so far,” newly sworn officer Nathan Edholm said.

Nathan Edholm had an interest in law enforcement in high school and at RCTC he got involved.

“They actually were recruiting not only for police but for the CSO program and how that’s a great transition into police officers so then I decided to want to start and pursue the CSO program.”

The program allows those who want to become a community service officers before transitioning into a police officers.

That is one of many programs that RPD provides to help with recruiting, and while that may still be an issue, their strategy remains the same.

“Creating a feeder program that these officers can get some basic experience and then transition into full-fledged police officers,” Chief Jim Franklin said.

Three of the new officers are from other agencies.

Between them and Officer Kenison, they bring 42 years of law enforcement experience.