New Haven Independent

Officer Soto was one of 39 new cops to graduate from the New Haven Police Academy during a ceremony on Friday afternoon at Wilbur Cross High School.

Soto was one of the last to step forward to receive his diploma. When his name was called, the entire class of new officers cheered in recognition of Soto’s accomplishment. Not only had he made it through six months of grueling physical and mental training, he had also mastered a debilitating speech impediment that had plagued him since he was a kid.

At 4 p.m. on Friday, 39 new police officers in white gloves marched into the Wilbur Cross High auditorium. The seats were packed with proud relatives. Flashbulbs popped as the cadets filed down the aisles, stepping in time to a call-and-response chant.

“Mama, mama can’t you see! What New Haven’s done to me!” the recruits shouted. “Mama, mama don’t be blue! I did it all for you!”

After the graduates seated themselves onstage in four rows of folding chairs, the hour-long ceremony began with the national anthem, sung by new officers and cousins Christopher and Jeremie Elliot. The proceedings included remarks by Police Chief James Lewis and Mayor John DeStefano and a ten-minute audiovisual presentation about New Haven Police Academy entitled Spartans: The Chosen Few.

Spartans featured footage of the academy’s rigorous training, accompanied by a loud heavy-metal soundtrack. Cadets were shown doing endless push-ups and sit-ups, marching in tight formation, learning extreme driving techniques, proudly displaying big bruises, and rapidly loading and firing their sidearms.

Class Leader Charles Kim, speaking after the video, described the 29-week academy as “one long test of mental and physical endurance.”

“All I seem to remember was physical and mental pain,” Kim said. Or, as the instructors described it, “discomfort at a maximal level.”

One of those instructors was in the crowd, in her full dress uniform, smiling proudly. Rose Reid, of the NHPD, teaches narcotics enforcement at the police academy. As the officers stepped forward to receive their diplomas, Reid reminisced about the transformations they had each undergone at the academy.

When Leonardo Soto’s name was called, the auditorium erupted in cheers. Rose Reid laughed knowingly, but wouldn’t say why Soto’s graduation provoked such enthusiasm. “Ask him,” she said, nodding. “He’ll tell you…”

Outside in the lobby after the ceremony, Soto was greeted by his proud family, including his young daughters. He said that the huge ovation had been in recognition of the personal challenges that he had overcome to be up on the stage, reciting the oath of office.

“I’ve lived with a stutter since I was a kid,” Soto said. “That was my adversity getting here.”

“It was very, very difficult,” Soto continued, speaking with just a trace of a stammer.

Soto said that he had been in speech therapy for about six months in order to overcome his speech impediment.

“I feel fantastic,” he said, smiling broadly.

Soto, a native of Hamden, has been a paramedic for 12 years. He’s dreamed of being a cop since he was a kid. “I always wanted to do this,” he said. “This was just calling me.”

Had he ever worried that his stutter would prevent him from fulfilling his dream?

“Thanks to my mom, no,” Soto said, putting his arm around his beaming mother, Iris Augosto (pictured above, in center).

“We’re very proud,” Augosto said.

“He’s a karate black belt!” Soto’s mother in-law exclaimed.

Reid (at left in picture, with Christopher Elliot) meanwhile roamed the atrium, greeting her former students.

“It’s hard for me even to say in words how I feel,” she said. “I can’t say anything but ‘good luck.’”

Starting on Monday, each new officer will be paired with a veteran officer to hit the streets for field training.

The graduating class of 2008: Matthew Abbate, Jason Bandy, Mitchell Berger, Manmeet Bhagtana, Jarrod Boyce, Richard Burgos, Lawrence Burns II, Christopher Cameron, Dennis Cole, Carlos Conceicao, Michael De Fonzo, Milton De Jesus, Rose Dell, Oscar Diaz, Christopher Elliot, Jeremie Elliot, Christopher Fennessy, Paul Finch, John Folch, Steven Formica, John Kaczor, Charles Kim, Corey Kozuch, Joshua Kyle, Chrostopher Lawrence, Michael Lozada, James MacLean, Joseph Manganiello, Matthew Marcinczyk, Justin Marshall, Rosa Melendez-Roman, Curtis Miller, Alex Morgillo, James Murcko, Gregory Pellicone, Martin Podsiad, Jason Pope, Ryan Przybylski, Jason Rentkowicz, Carmelo Rivera, Krzysztof Ruszczyk, Betsy Segui, Scott Shumway, Matthew Silvestrini, Alexander Sinanis, Leonardo Soto, David Totino, Matthew Williams, and David Zanelli.