North Kentucky News

Police recruit Garrick Wells receives his badge from Covington Police Chief Brian Valenti after being sworn in by Mayor Joe Meyer.

COVINGTON, Ky. – For 1½ years, Garrick Wells has been a Covington Police Cadet, learning the basics of law enforcement work through training, observation, and independent study.

Today, he was elevated to the next level.

In a brief ceremony at City Hall, Wells was sworn in as a full-fledged police recruit by Mayor Joe Meyer and received his new badge from Police Chief Brian Valenti.

“If you look on the back of this badge, you’ll see the words ‘integrity,’ ‘professionalism,’ ‘justice,’ ‘compassion,’ and ‘respect,’” Valenti said. “If you use these values to make your decisions, you’ll succeed as a police officer.”

A Cooper High School graduate, Wells is the sixth current Covington officer who came up through the Cadet program (although many others have done so since its inception). That includes a current assistant chief.

Valenti said he was pleased by those transitions.

“Any time you can elevate a cadet to the ranks of officer, you’re reinforcing the fact that this is a successful program that’s doing what it’s supposed to do by feeding the Department with quality officers,” the Chief said.

Before hitting the streets on his own, Wells will complete five weeks of online training, 20 weeks of in-person training at the Kentucky State Police Academy in Richmond, and 20 weeks of in-house field training in Covington.

As is his custom, Meyer reminded Wells and Wells’ family members who attended of the largeness of the police officer position and the challenge of having to play a wide variety of roles that include protector, social worker, and family therapist.

“Being a police officer is not a job – it’s a vocation. It’s a service to the people,” the Mayor said.

In Covington, with its long history, its drastically different neighborhoods, its diverse cultures and incomes, and its active downtown and tourist attractions, that job is particularly demanding," he said. And Covington’s officers often are “the face” of the City."

“All of that requires good judgment from you as a police officer,” Meyer said. “The impression you leave on residents and visitors will be their impression of Covington.”

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