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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Dozens gathered in the White Plains public safety headquarters Friday to watch Elizabeth Barksdale and Nicole Maselli get sworn in before heading off to the police academy on Monday.
Barksdale, a Mahopac resident who has been a dispatcher for the White Plains Police Department for approximately six years, said she was "thrilled" to have been selected.
"I just want to be able to give back to the community I grew up in," said Barksdale.
The department's other new recruit, Nicole Maselli, also has experience as a dispatcher from her work at the Mount Pleasant Police Department.
"I'm ecstatic," said Maselli, a West Harrison resident whose father formerly worked as the White Plains branch manager for the District Attorney's office. "My dad is a judge, my grandfather is a retired Mount Vernon detective, and all my cousins are NYPD, so I come from a long line of law enforcement."
Public Safety Commissioner David Chong said he was excited for the two former dispatchers to return from the academy as White Plains police officers.
"Ive always said, 'Wow, what a tough job it is to be a dispatcher.' Because you know the officers, and you get to know them very well. Then youre sending them off to jobs and sometimes you feel helpless because youre stuck behind the microphone," said Chong. "Now youre going to know what it feels like on the other side of the microphone."
Mayor Thomas Roach congratulated the recruits and said he looked forward to seeing them out in uniform.
"I have the uptmost faith in them [the department] and what they do, and therefore I have faith that you are two amazing candidates," said Roach.
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