Obama Attends CPD Recruit Graduation

COLUMBUS, Ohio—A group of Columbus police recruits who were laid off due to city budget cuts graduated and were sworn in Friday, joined by President Barack Obama.

NBC 4’s Patrick Preston reported with the FAST FACTS and provided Twitter updates from the ceremony.

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A group of 25 CPD recruits graduated Friday, and officials credited Obama’s federal stimulus package with saving the recruits’ jobs.

Residents expected some traffic issues near the Aladdin Shrine Temple Friday, before and after the ceremony, which started at about 10:30 a.m.

Obama and Air Force One arrived at Port Columbus International Airport at about 10:35 a.m.

Preston said the entire nation had eyes on Columbus Friday morning.

Governor Ted Strickland, Attorney General Richard Cordray, Mayor Michael Coleman, Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy and Sen. Sherrod Brown were present at the ceremony.

Obama said he wants the nation, especially Columbus and Ohio, to understand—from his point of view—the impact the federal stimulus monies can have on a community.

For the families and friends of the graduating recruits, Friday’s ceremony was all the more special after the turmoil of recent weeks.

David Garner watched his son, David Kyle Garner, graduate. He called it icing on the cake and said it was fitting the recruiting class that went through the adversity of being laid off would have the President attend their graduation ceremony.

“We were really saddened by the fact that when he got laid off, he had a job before, and he started to pursue his career. Really, really pumped up, and then we kind of got slammed. But we were really optimistic that they were going to call him back, and so, overall, couldn’t ask for anything more,“ Garner said.

Garner said he had mixed emotions seeing the leaders who laid off his son sitting on stage during the ceremony but said everything turned out OK.

The 25 recruits received their badges Thursday night in a night-before-graduation pinning tradition.   

“It was a long road getting here, but I couldn’t be prouder of all of us,“ recruit Timothy Myers said.

After the ceremony, Obama met with the recruits privately and made his way back to Port Columbus. There weren’t any additional scheduled stops.

Friday was a day those police recruits feared they might never see, as one recruit put it: they made history twice—becoming the first class to be laid off before graduation and the first class to have the President in attendance for graduation.

“The one thing that we hope is not only that we have our jobs reinstated, but also the rest of America can utilize the stimulus money to get their jobs back. We know that there are a lot of people out there that have lost their jobs,“ said Steven Baird, a new officer.

“It’s a very exciting day anytime you can meet someone of the president’s stature. I mean, very few people get into that position and to be able to meet him and shake hands with him, I mean that was a once in a lifetime opportunity,“ said Greg Hudson, a new officer.

PROTECTING THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

NBC 4’s Patrick Preston reported from the ceremony and had an update on security measures.

With the President’s visit came the responsibility of protecting the commander-in-chief.

For Columbus police, that meant not only playing host for the graduation ceremony but making sure Obama arrived and departed safely.

Working with Secret Service, Columbus police drew on previous presidential visits in devising a protection plan. 

The route from Port Columbus to the Aladdin Shrine Center covered more than six miles.

And while the ceremony was closed to the public, the police chief said Obama’s participation likely doubled attendance.

As for how much it cost the city to protect the President, the chief said it may pose a budget challenge.

“We’ll look at different funds, the general fund or a specific fund next week. Once we know the figures, we’ll go from there,“ Chief Walter Distelzweig said.

Evidently, Columbus officers did their jobs, as President Obama departed from Port Columbus Friday afternoon without incident.

DIGGING DEEPER INTO THE FUNDING REQUEST

As reported previously, a $1.25 million grant from the justice department helped save the jobs of the police recruits. But it may surprise you to learn that the money Columbus received came without any paperwork being filed with the justice department, raising questions about how closely the federal government is tracking the requests for stimulus aid.

NBC 4 filed a records request with the mayor’s office asking for all communication between City Hall and the Obama administration about federal funding or stimulus money as it related to the new recruit class.

As part of the request, NBC 4 was given the initial request for money from the Coleman administration, seeking support for projects like light rail and infrastructure upgrades but no request to help the recruit class.

According to e-mails from the mayor’s spokesman Dan Williamson, the conversations with the justice department and the mayor’s office were just that—conversations.

NBC 4 spoke with Williamson on Friday to get further clarification. He said that once the mayor was made aware that there were funds in the stimulus package for law enforcement officers and after repeated references to Columbus’ laid-off recruit class, Coleman aggressively sought out the U.S. Attorney General in Washington a few weeks ago.

Following a weekend of conference calls with the department of justice, Williamson said, Coleman was given assurance that $1.25 million would be coming to pay for the recruits.

Williamson said the check will arrive within 30 days and that additional written documentation is expected.

Twitter Conversations About Obama’s Visit