Six new police officers sworn into duty for WPD
WOONSOCKET – The Woonsocket Police Department gained six new recruits from latest graduating class of the Rhode Island Municipal Police Training Academy, including the city’s first Cambodian-American policeman.
Khmao Phoeun and his five fellow recruits were sworn in as probationary patrol officers by Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt during a ceremony at the Clin- ton Street police station last week.
Khmao was born in Cambodia and graduated from East Providence High School in 2008. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Rhode Island College in 2015. Police say he and his fiancee, Chan Da Hul, are expecting their first child in February. Also sworn in were:
● Nicholas Joseph Maglio. The son of David and Jane Maglio, he graduated from Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick in 2009 and earned a bache- lor’s degree in history from Providence College in 2015.
● Travis James Young. The son of Henry and Linda Young, he is a 2000 graduate of Blue Hills Vocational School in Canton, Mass. He joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 2003 and was honorably discharged in 2007. Young is married to Jenelle Rene Mason.
● Austin Dean Archambault, a 2012 graduate of Mount St. Charles
Academy. The son of Dean and Lynn Archambault, he graduated from Rhode Island College with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice earlier this year.
● Evan Rocco Puopolo, a native of Medford, Mass. The son of Rocco and Maureen Puopolo, he graduated from Tri-County Vocational High School in Franklin in 2010 and later attended UMass Dartmouth, where he earned a bachelor’s in criminal justice in 2014. He’s currently enrolled in graduate studies at Southern New Hampshire University.
● Daniel Franklin Wild. A Warwick native, he is the son of Frederic Wild and Kim Bishaw. He graduated from Cumberland High School in 2004 and earned an associate’s degree in business management from the Community College of Rhode Island in 2012. He’s married to Danielle Crookston and they are parents of a four-year-old son.
The six new recruits will be on probation for three months, during which time they will be involved in oneto-one training with more experienced officers under the supervision of Training Officer Normand Galipeau.
In addition to Baldelli-Hunt, Police Chief Thomas F. Oates III and Public Safety Director offered brief remarks during the swearing-in ceremony, welcoming the new recruits into law enforcement careers. Oates said the new hires bring the number of officers employed by the Woonsocket Police Department to 92, including himself.
Rhode Island State Police Col. Ann C. Assumpico said a total of 39 police recruits in all graduated from the 129th session of the municipal police academy at the Community College of Rhode Island in Lincoln on Dec. 15.
The class also included Pawtucket police recruit Matthew A. Choquette; East Providence recruits Christopher J. Cooney. Kyle J. Graves, Patrick P. Holmes and Ryan Feeney; Sean J. Kiley for the Lincoln police; Ryan M. McGarry, Nicholas S. Tomasetti and Cameron E. Walsh for the North Smithfield police; and Brett M. Simas for the Burrillville police.
The recruits earned their certification after 22 weeks and 950 hours of training, according to Assumpico. The curriculum covered physical fitness and academic material on state law, the motor vehicle code, use of force, civil liability, bias-free policing, hate crimes and other law enforcement subjects.