As Jose Munoz sat in his chair at his swearing in ceremony as a probationary officer on Friday morning at Danville’s municipal building, Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr. congratulated him on his achievement and spoke about how important his work is to the community.
“You’re going to be serving and protecting the people of the city of Danville, people that are going to be counting on you. They’re coming to you in their biggest time of need, where they have something going on maybe that they’ve never faced before or maybe worse yet, in some ways, something that they face time and time again,” said Mayor Williams.
Munoz, who was raised in Danville, recently returned home from Houston, Texas, to complete his training to become a probationary officer for the city, according to Danville Police Chief Christopher Yates.
After being officially sworn in, Munoz was given a certificate to commemorate the day by members of the Danville Police and Fire Board, and later presented with his official badge by Chief Yates.
“One thing we always try to start out with when bringing in new members of our team is first we need to find good human beings,” said Chief Yates. “I think you don’t have to be around Probationary Officer Munoz very long to realize that we scored on that part.”
“When you see a police officer or a detective doing their job, I think a lot of us overlook how they got there and how much work and self-sacrifice when it comes to dedication is required to not only get this job, but to maintain it and stay and to continue doing what we do day in and day out,” said Chief Yates.
When Munoz — now officially Probationary Officer #478 — took the podium, he thanked his parents, brother, and his wife Jasmin, who will be joining Munoz along with their children once she completes her teaching contract with a school in Texas.
Munoz will begin a 16-week law enforcement training course at the University of Illinois Police Training Institute soon, according to a press release by Chief Yates.