TOLEDO (WTOL) - Friday was graduation day for the 38 cadets at the Toledo Police Academy.
The new class raises the number of police officers on Toledo streets to 621. You might think you’re seeing double when you look at two members sitting in the front row; Tyler and Tayler Glass.
“It’s going to look like they work in the same part of town. A lot of bad guys will say ‘I just saw you five minutes ago. You get around’” laughed Toledo Police Chief George Kral.
The Glass brothers are 27-year-old identical twins from Petersburg, Michigan.
Both graduated from Tiffin University, both said they entered law enforcement to give back to the community and both will always be concerned about the other as they protect and serve the citizens of Toledo.
“I trust our training and I trust him to make the right decision. It’s always going to be in the back of my mind but I trust he’ll make the right decision” said Tyler.
“Oh absolutely. We’ll definitely stay in contact. I don’t think anything will change," added Tayler.
Twins and careers as first responders run in the Glass family.
“I’m a twin. I have twin cousins. One was a policeman and the other a fireman” said the officers’ mom Marie.
Their dad Steve, is proud of his sons.
“They were very close the day they said they were going into the same profession. I was a little surprised but knowing them they’ve been very close since day one.”
The next scheduled academy begins in July with 40 cadets. Recruiting efforts are underway with the test phase beginning in June.
Chief Kral’s goal for a size the city of Toledo is 700.
“Our retirements are going to slow down because our department is much younger than it was ten years ago so these next few classes will see our numbers move up," he said.
And it’s moving up with the help of two twins who could confuse the criminals. The new officers will continue to learn over the next four months during field training.
After that they will be regularly evaluated during a year-long probationary period.
