By JOSH ZEMBIK, ANNIE WILNER and ANDY GELLER
Last updated: 7:25 am
July 3, 2008
Posted: 3:39 am
July 3, 2008
From Leathernecks to New York's Finest.
Darrion Brooks and Brittney Reeves, a married couple who met in the Marines and now have a 10-month-son, yesterday became proud members of the latest graduating class of the Police Department.
"The NYPD was always Darrion's dream, and I wanted him to fulfill it. So I said, 'Let's do it together. Plus, we'll get to retire together,' " said Reeves, 27, who hails from Opelika, Ala.
Said her husband, "We figured we already served the greatest country in the world, why not serve in the world's greatest city?"
Brooks, 28, who grew up in East New York, Brooklyn, served for seven months in Iraq before being assigned to the Marine base in Quantico, Va., where he met Reeves.
The couple, whose son is named Evin, left the Marines last December and entered the Police Academy a month later.
The valedictorian, David Vale, 23, gave up a job crunching numbers for a Wall Street firm to become one of the Big Apple's men in blue.
"I grew up just blocks away from One Police Plaza, and I remember saluting the officers back then," said Vale, whose uncle and grandfather were cops. "I just wanted to do something more exciting with my life."
Meanwhile, the city graduated 50 new paramedics.
Emergency Medical Services Chief John Peruggia said the agency had a record 108,296 calls in June, 6.4 percent higher than the 101,759 calls in June last year.
