After two Boise Police Department officers and a K-9 were shot in the line of duty last month, support continues to pour in and some new officers are on the job.
Seven new officers were sworn into the police department Thursday. One of their training officers Cpl. Chris Davis, one of the officers shot, was there handing out the badges. He returned to work earlier this week.
"Even in the face of all that adversity, even in the face of all that tragedy,” BPD Chief Bill Bones said. “We still see new officers coming through the door, pinning on that badge, taking that oath and going out to serve."
According to FBI data, more than 50,000 law enforcement officer across the country were assaulted on the job in 2015. That same data show just over 14,000 of those officers were injured during those incidents.
"Tragedy has hit law enforcement many times this year, and it's been a tough three weeks for us,” Chief Bones said. “That has an impact on every officer, both those who are new and officers who have been here for a long time, and those that are thinking about becoming police officers."
Officer Hayli Bozarth is one of the seven new officers. She was still in training when the Boise shooting happened.
"It hit close to home being within our agency,” she said. “It's something that hasn't happened within our agency for years."
Officer Bozarth has always wanted to help people and sees this profession as the best way to do that. So the shooting didn’t make her want to quit.
"We learned so much from it,” she said. “Our tactics come into play,…we all heard the chief's debrief on it and it's a learning opportunity.”
"That just lightens my heart. That gives me hope for the future of Boise, for the future of America as a whole,” Chief Bones said. “Because we've got people who are willing to put their lives in front of the lives of others to protect our community."
Community support is something both Chief Bones and Officer Bozarth said made dealing with last month’s shooting a little easier.
Chief Bones asked the community to send cards showing support for the police officers who shot and the Boise Police Department. And the community came through.
"I don't know how many [cards]. Tens of thousands,” Chief Bones said. “There’s too many to count. But really, I take a few moments multiple times a day to read a few different cards, and I know several of the officers and employees do, and as you've seen in the department the walls are just papered with cards and that's not, maybe a third of them that we have up so far."