Eleven members of the Hawai'i County Police Department's 73rd Recruit Class were recognized yesterday in ceremonies held at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel.

The class was made up of Matthew Lewis, Sean Phelan, Joseph Villa, Joseph Rocha, Dwight Walker, Marco Segobia, Jon Carvalho, Aaron Cork, John McCarron, Benjamin Galluppi, and Eric Reyes.

The police recruits underwent five-and-a-half months of training, will now undergo three-and-a-half more months of on-the-job field training with veteran police officers before they are qualified to work alone.

Class president Lewis said the recruits came from as far away as Ireland, Chicago and Indonesia and as nearby as a few blocks from the Hilo police station. They included a former cellphone salesman, car salesman, college students, armored car driver, nursery worker, health-care project manager, security guard, mechanic, university employee and construction worker.