Lincoln Police add 12 new officers in latest graduating class

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Twelve recruits walked across the stage Wednesday night to get sworn into the Lincoln Police Department.

The 2025 spring academy is made up of eight men and four women — some from right here in Lincoln, and others from across the country.

“I’ve always loved watching law enforcement,” said Hannah Bennington of Lincoln. I’ve loved the detective aspect of it, which is why I love Lincoln, because they investigate.”

Damien Cearns, who won the top academic and physical award in the class, is from Colorado.

“Just asking around, you really got a good reputation about Lincoln,” he said. “So I came up here and checked it out. Everybody is really personable.”

After training for 23 weeks, or 880 hours, this is no longer a group of recruits. They are now Lincoln Police officers.

“It goes by fast,” Cearns said. “Really, you wish you had more time with your cadets because we’re all going to different teams.”

The 12 new officers are the first of two graduating classes this year, and it comes at a time when they’re needed.

Last week, the Lincoln Police Union made a public call for more staffing due to an increase in some violent crimes in the city.

“Serving the community is more than just about the law,” Bennington said. “It’s about knowing when someone needs help.”

There were 17 in the class, but only 12 passed.

Police Chief Michon Morrow said this dozen showed initiative during their training, and that goes a long way.

“It only took a few short days, and then anytime I saw them in the hallway, they were engaging, they were having a conversation,” Morrow said.

She said it was “really powerful to see their willingness to grow that quickly.”

This group of 12 officers are included in the 347 sworn personnel at the Lincoln Police Department, but LPD’s target goal is 371.

The next recruit class starts in a month, and it has 22 people who would work at LPD.

So if all of them pass, the department would be very close to its goal.