Suffolk County graduates 37 police recruits in Brentwood ceremony

Brentwood’s police academy graduated 37 recruits at 10 a.m., adding new officers at a moment when Suffolk County leaders are under pressure to show they can keep pace with public-safety demands across the county. County Executive Edward P. Romaine and Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina presided over the ceremony for recruit class 25-196, which included 32 Suffolk County Police recruits and five recruits from outside agencies.

The outside-agency graduates came from the Sag Harbor Village Police Department, Southampton Town, Southold Town and Stony Brook State University Police. Two were from Sag Harbor and one came from each of the other three agencies. That mix matters in Suffolk County, where the police department also provides various police services as needed for incorporated villages and for town and village police departments across the county.

The class finished 31 weeks of academy training totaling more than 1,000 hours. Instruction covered law, emergency medical training, domestic violence, anti-bias training, mental illness, cultural diversity, terrorism and body-worn camera technology. The curriculum reflects how county policing has expanded beyond basic patrol work, with recruits expected to handle medical calls, crisis situations and heightened demands for documentation and accountability.

Romaine, who was elected Suffolk County Executive in November 2023, has made public safety a key county priority. Catalina, sworn in as Suffolk County’s 16th police commissioner on February 4, 2025, is now overseeing a department that has used the same 31-week, 1,000-plus-hour academy model for recent classes, including class 24-193 and class 24-191. Earlier graduations brought in 32 recruits in March 2025 and 57 recruits in May 2024.

For Suffolk residents, the practical question is not the ceremony itself but where these officers go next. New recruits can help ease staffing pressure, replace retirements and spread the workload across precincts, especially in places where coverage needs can rise quickly. With county police also supporting local departments in incorporated villages, the Brentwood graduation added another class to a continuing pipeline that county leaders are relying on to keep patrol strength from slipping further behind demand.