Mobile Police Academy Class #81 Graduates as MPD Climbs to 503 Officers, Nears Full Staffing

MOBILE, Ala. — Ten new Mobile police officers are set to take their oath Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, at a Mobile Police Academy graduation ceremony for Class #81 at Cottage Hill Baptist Church. Thirteen more recruits from the Mobile Regional Academy’s Class #81 — headed to seven agencies across Mobile and Baldwin counties — are graduating alongside them.

Update, Oct. 7, 2026: Class #81 graduated Tuesday, Oct. 6, at Cottage Hill Baptist Church, and Police Chief William Jackson said the 10 new officers bring the Mobile Police Department to 503 sworn officers, close to its budgeted strength of 516. Graduates and recruiting leaders also spoke about the class and the department’s hiring turnaround.

Latest developments: Class #81 takes the oath

The recruits of the Mobile Police Academy’s 81st class took their oaths Tuesday morning at Cottage Hill Baptist Church after a demanding 14-week academy. Twenty-two graduates were sworn in during the ceremony, a group split roughly evenly between the Mobile Police Department and other agencies in the region. The rosters released before the ceremony had listed 23 names.

Over roughly three and a half months, the recruits worked on physical fitness, studied the Alabama criminal code, practiced on the firing range and learned first aid. Their training also included being shot with a Taser, among many other exercises.

Graduation does not end their training. The new officers now move into field training, working alongside experienced officers at their respective agencies before they patrol on their own.

From nursing student to police officer

For Mairely Hernandez, the day marked the end of a major change in direction. She had been in college studying to become a nurse before she decided to pursue a career in law enforcement with the Mobile Police Department.

“It’s definitely been a ride. You know, there’s been moments that you wake up and you think, like, ‘Is this for me? Should I do this?’ … But every day is just getting up and continuing it and just waiting ’til this day, graduation.” — Mairely Hernandez

Hernandez is bilingual, and she said she hopes to use that skill to help Spanish-speaking residents who may need police assistance.

“I want to give back to my community,” Hernandez said. “You don’t know if there’s people out there that need help, but they don’t speak English.”

Class leader ‘Old Man’ trades the fire service for policing

The class included several recruits who left other careers to become officers. Among them was class leader Bryan Billings, 43, who joined the Mobile Police Department after 22 years as a firefighter. His classmates nicknamed him “Old Man.”

“I was a firefighter for 22 years,” Billings said. “It’s time to make a change, and Mobile called. (I) liked doing the first responder, helping people, so I definitely wanted to stay on that side, whether it’s fire, police.”

Mobile Police Department staffing nears full strength

The graduation comes as the Mobile Police Department reports its best staffing levels in years. Jackson said the department now has 503 sworn officers and is working toward 516, the number it is budgeted for after the Mobile City Council raised the authorized count of sworn officers last year. The previous budgeted figure was 492, so the change added 24 positions.

“There was a time when we were down over 100 officers. We’re currently sitting at 503 with this class graduation, and we have another class starting on the 19th, which we’ll be putting 15 more into that class,” Jackson said.

The Mobile Police Department’s share of Class #81 began with 20 recruits, and 10 finished. Jackson said losing some recruits along the way is expected.

“Attrition happens through the academy as well. Everybody that starts the academy, as you heard me tell them earlier, does not finish the academy,” he said.

By the numbers: 2026 Mobile police hiring

• 20 officers graduated in February
• 16 officers graduated in June
• 10 officers graduated Tuesday with Class #81
• 46 officers added so far this year
• 503 sworn officers now on the force
• 516 sworn officers budgeted, up from 492
• 15 recruits expected in the next academy class, which starts Oct. 19

Being more selective

The city has raised police pay in recent years, and Jackson also credited the department’s recruiting work for the turnaround. As the department has moved closer to full strength, he said, it can afford to be choosier about whom it hires.

“So we don’t have to settle for one that maybe we would have had two or three years ago,” Jackson said. “Now we can pass on that and have a better-quality candidate.”

Tony McCarron, who leads public safety recruiting for the city, said Mobile added a third academy class each year a few years ago and began aggressively recruiting young men and women, leaning on the testimonials of those who signed on.

“It’s caught on with a lot of young people, a lot of young people that came on, young men and women that came on, went to work for us, became our absolute best recruiters out there – way better than me,” McCarron said. “And they started bringing in the type of individuals that they hung out with.”

McCarron said improved retention has also allowed the department to be more selective.

“It’s not gotten easier, but the approach we kind of took to it when we started this six and a half years ago was building a championship team. You know, you got to select the right people to put in the locker room. Can’t just put anybody in the locker room, and so we kind of changed the thought process,” he said.

The Mobile Police Academy graduation ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the church, 4255 Cottage Hill Road in west Mobile. In all, 23 graduates are listed across the two classes, according to the Mobile Police Department.

Mobile Police Academy Class #81 graduates

The Mobile Police Department will swear in 10 new officers from its own academy class. They are:

• Bryan Billings
• Austin Buck
• Donnie Fowler
• Mairely Hernandez
• Abraham Lopez-Gaona
• Branson McCafferty
• Carlin Peters
• Kobe Smith
• Collin Wright
• David Young

Mobile Regional Academy Class #81 graduates

The regional class includes recruits who will serve with other law enforcement agencies in the area. The graduates and their agencies are:

• Windham Connell — Alabama Port Authority
• Carlie Henning — Alabama Port Authority
• Zachary Murphy — Alabama Port Authority
• John Daniels — Saraland Police Department
• Kevin Kimbrell, II — Saraland Police Department
• Austin Standrod — Saraland Police Department
• Pheona McGlade — Spanish Fort Police Department
• Kurtis Roberts — Spanish Fort Police Department
• Jason Henderson — University of South Alabama
• Elizabeth Lajnef — University of South Alabama
• Dylan Villa — Daphne Police Department
• Daniel Bloom — Dauphin Island Police Department
• Edward McGill — Fairhope Police Department

By the numbers

• 23 total graduates across the two Class #81 rosters
• 10 new officers joining the Mobile Police Department
• 13 regional academy graduates
• 7 outside agencies sending recruits through the regional academy
• 3 graduates each for the Alabama Port Authority and the Saraland Police Department, the most of any outside agency
• 2 graduates each for the Spanish Fort Police Department and the University of South Alabama
• 1 graduate each for the Daphne, Dauphin Island and Fairhope police departments

Where the regional graduates will serve

The regional roster stretches across both sides of Mobile Bay.

In Mobile County, three graduates are joining the Alabama Port Authority, the state agency that runs the public seaport facilities at the Port of Mobile and maintains its own police department. Three more are headed to Saraland, a city just north of Mobile. Two will serve on the University of South Alabama’s campus police force in west Mobile, and one is going to Dauphin Island, the barrier island town at the mouth of Mobile Bay.

Across the bay in Baldwin County, two graduates will join the Spanish Fort Police Department, and one each will go to Daphne and Fairhope, two of the Eastern Shore’s largest cities.

What a regional academy does

Not every law enforcement agency runs its own training academy. Many smaller departments, as well as specialized agencies such as university and port police, send their recruits to a regional academy instead. That arrangement lets those agencies train new officers without the cost of operating a full academy of their own.

In Alabama, people hired as law enforcement officers must complete a basic training program that meets standards set by the Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission, known as APOSTC, before they can work as certified officers. Academy training typically covers subjects such as criminal law, firearms, defensive tactics, emergency vehicle operations and first aid.

After graduation, new officers generally go on to a period of field training, where they work alongside experienced officers before patrolling on their own. The Mobile Police Department did not detail the field training schedule for this class.

Mobile Police Academy graduation details

• What: Mobile Police Academy Class #81 graduation and swearing-in ceremony
• When: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, at 11 a.m.
• Where: Cottage Hill Baptist Church, 4255 Cottage Hill Road, Mobile
• Who: 10 Mobile Police Academy graduates and 13 Mobile Regional Academy graduates

Why it matters

Each graduating class adds new officers to patrol shifts in Mobile and in the surrounding communities whose departments sent recruits. For smaller agencies such as the Dauphin Island, Daphne or Fairhope police departments, even a single new officer can make a noticeable difference in staffing.

The 10 Mobile Police Academy graduates will be sworn in as Mobile police officers during Tuesday’s ceremony.