Haverhill, MA (April 3, 2026) — The Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC) announced the graduation of 55 police officers from the MPTC-NECC Police Academy’s 8th Recruit Officer Class (ROC). The graduates completed over 20 weeks of intensive, standardized training in all aspects of law enforcement and will now serve as full-time officers representing 24 police agencies across Massachusetts.

MPTC-NECC Police Academy’s 8th Recruit Officer Class

For four of the new officers, Northern Essex Community College was already a familiar place when they began their training. They all previously earned associate degrees from NECC.  Ryan Brown of Haverhill graduated with his Criminal Justice degree in 2024. Anthony McGrane of Haverhill and Victoria Ohlson of Methuen earned their Criminal Justice degrees in 2023. And Todd Tringale of Saugus graduated with a General Studies: Individualized Option degree in 2022. Brown and Tringale also played baseball for the NECC Knights on teams that made it to the NJCAA Div. 3 World Series.

McGrane has been working toward this day since he graduated from high school.

“I always knew I wanted to be a police officer,” he said. He also knew he wanted to go to college and enrolled in Northern Essex in large part due to the convenience and affordability. The flexibility of online classes also allowed him to start working part-time in security while pursuing his degree, getting valuable experience for his resume in the process.

Ohlson, the daughter of a law enforcement officer, also knew she wanted to be a police officer right out of high school. She began her criminal justice degree in 2016, but, at her dad’s urging, she took a break to ensure she was really ready for all of the challenges that come with working in the field. Ohlson spent the next few years in real estate, all the while thinking about her unfinished degree.

“I had another conversation with my dad, and he asked, ‘If you could have any job in the world, no matter the pay, what would it be?’ And I said, ‘A detective.’ I knew then I had to finish my degree.” Ohlson re-enrolled in 2022 and graduated just a year later.

For Brown, NECC allowed him to explore his interest in criminal justice, while continuing a sport he loved: baseball. After redshirting in 2021, he worked hard on and off the field. He was a starter and key player by the time he graduated in 2024. The icing on the cake was a trip to the NJCAA Div. 3 World Series. And he said when he started in the Police Academy, that same work ethic came right back and served him well.

“At the start, it’s mentally and physically draining. But you get over that and learn how to balance your life around it.”

Tringale and Brown were teammates in 2021 and 2022 and were happy to have a familiar face in the academy. Tringale first went to UMass Amherst to play baseball after graduating from Saugus High School in 2019. He said that, after a year, he felt it wasn’t the right fit. He decided to transfer to NECC so he could continue to play at a high level, while also getting his degree. Tringale was an integral part of the team’s success during the years he pitched for the Knights, and was named to the First NJCAA All-American Team his final season. He then transferred to the University of Dayton, intending to play one last year of collegiate baseball, but was instead sidelined by an injury.

“I thought I could push through, but I couldn’t. So I came back home to have surgery, and pretty much as soon as I was healed, I started in the Academy.”

Victoria Ohlson ’23, Anthony McGrane ’23, Ryan Brown ’24, Todd Tringale ’22

The four NECC alumni are now set to begin their law enforcement careers. And while they’re all glad to have the rigor of the academy behind them, they expressed gratitude for how prepared they feel for their new roles, the special bonds the experience created along the way, and for leaving their khaki student officer uniforms behind.

MPTC-NECC Police Academy

The Police Academy at Northern Essex was first established in 2015. The Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC) develops and delivers world-class training across the Commonwealth to more than 20,000 officers at every stage of their careers, ranging from basic training for new officers to mandatory and specialized professional development training. An agency within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS), MPTC is responsible for the statewide standardization of police training, delivering a modernized training program that aligns with national best practices, public expectations, and legislative mandates put forward by the 2020 police reform law. MPTC operates a network of convenient regional academies and authorizes independent academies that meet the Agency’s standard of excellence.

In addition to municipal officers, MPTC ensures the highest training standards for MBTA Police Officers, Environmental Police Officers, UMass Campus Police Officers, Campus Police Officers, and Deputy Sheriffs performing Police duties and functions.

The MPTC operates Police Academies in Boylston, East Falmouth, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lynnfield, Plymouth, and Randolph. The MPTC also authorizes full-time academies with the Boston Police Academy, Cambridge Police Academy – Northeastern University, Fitchburg State University Police Program, Lowell Police Academy, MBTA Police Academy, Springfield Police Academy, Worcester Police Academy, Quinsigamond Community College, and the MA National Guard Civilian Academy.