Duluth Police Department Swears In Eight New Officers

DULUTH, Minn.–The Duluth Police Department is the third largest in the state of Minnesota. On Friday, the police force welcomed eight new officers who had completed their training with the Duluth Department’s own academy. Four of the new officers are women and four are men.

One of the new officers is Lucas Pyrlik. His badge was pinned on him by his mother, Angela Paulson. Pyrlik is just 20 years old.

“He can’t actually buy a gun but he’s going to carry one. So he started as his whole senior year in the Duluth Police Department, graduated early, did a year of security and then he got in. He’s just a great kid. I’m so proud of him. He knew what he wanted to do for a long time, started at age 14 with the police explorers program here in this building and kept up with it,” Paulson said.

“I was in the  the Explorers Program plus the Community Service officer, and then I did another job at the hospital, so I mean, all that put together kind of got to learn about the community quite a bit. I think that overall I was excited about this department. There are a lot of ways to advance and a lot of opportunities here,” Pyrlik said.

The next step for each of the eight new officers will be to work with a more senior officer and become acclimated to the many roles that an officer plays each and every day.