[dropcap]Y[/dropcap]esterday Arcata Police Department swore in two new police officers in a small, seemingly private ceremony within Arcata City Hall Chambers.
Travis Sherrod and Tyler Moore graduated from the Basic Police Academy located on College of the Redwood’s campus Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, the day before their swearing in.
Moore, 22, is a native of McKinleyville and recently returned to Humboldt County after serving four years in the military.
While growing up, Moore’s father was in the military so the family moved away from Humboldt County when Moore was 7. During that time Moore and his family lived in places like North Dakota, Germany, Alaska and eventually Idaho where Moore graduated high-school and deployed. He was stationed in Chicago and San-Diego where he spent all four years.
“My dad has been my biggest inspiration for everything, he was the reason I joined the military. Seeing the difference he was able to make in Eureka made me want to become a cop,” Moore expressed after his swearing-in.
Moore’s father is a Field Training Officer for the Eureka Police Department.
Sherrod came from Los Angeles in 2007 and played football for Humboldt State University, graduating with a B.A in Business Administration in 2009. His wife currently works as a Deputy Sheriff for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s office.
Like Moore, Sherrod also names his father–who was a police officer and also served in the military–as having a positive influence on his career choice in law enforcement. Although, Sherrod explained, at one point he did not trust the police after seeing everything that was going on in the world around him.
“My biggest thing is we all complain about wanting to see a change but if we really want to make a change we have to put our boots where they are. Law enforcement–yes it is about the law–but it is not all about the law. We need to be able to build communities and build relationships with the community and that is why I wanted to become a police officer, to change opinions and change ideas,” Sherrod explained.
Sherrod will be APD’s only Black police officer. John Packer, a well-known Black man in Arcata’s community, used to work for APD and now works as a sergeant for HSU’s university police.
James Sherrod was in attendance to witness his son’s swearing-in and he offered words of encouragement and support for his son.
“I am proud of him. I used to be a police officer when I was younger and my degree is in criminal justice. I always wanted to become a police officer because I understood their objectives,” Sherrod Sr. explained.
“If you are a police officer, people don’t see your skin color they see the badge and that’s what makes people angry but you can’t please everyone. Everyone has their own prejudices about this or that. Like I tell him [Travis] someway or another, you have to get rid of your prejudices and move on.”
