ORLANDO, Fla. – U.S. veteran and cancer survivor Nicholas Schmall was sworn in to the Orlando Police Department Tuesday.
The 27-year-old is among 11 new officers who took an oath to go above and beyond.
[TRENDING: Private ride inspector says 14-year-old who fell from Orlando drop tower too big to ride | 220 escaped animals reported to Florida wildlife officials since 2016, records show | Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]
“Any effect that I can have to better people, I will definitely continue to do that despite the challenges, despite the situations and circumstances that I find myself in or the country finds itself in,” Schmall said.
Chief Orlando Rolon spoke to News 6 about the recruitment troubles he’s seen over the last two years, mostly due to the pandemic and social unrest around the country.
Rolon said the department came up with a plan and produced an Emmy award-winning video to help draw more people to apply.
“The fact that, again, thousands of individuals are still applying and we’re very selective out of 3-4 thousand individuals, we may pick 100 each year. That’s how selective we are here. To me, it’s just wonderful that we still have individuals in our community, in our nation that want to serve and protect,” Rolon said.
The chief explained several of his new officers speak different languages, like Chinese, Creole and Spanish. He added it will help officers serve in other communities.
“The diversity of our community is something we should also be proud of and the fact that we are attracting individuals who are a reflection of the community that we serve,” Rolon said.
The Orlando Police Department will host a meet-and-greet on Friday, April 1, to give residents the opportunity to meet the new officers.