Family and friends turned out in force to support recruits. (Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department)

LOWELL — Thirty recruits walked onto the stage of the Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Friday, saluted, received a handshake and certification documents, and then walked off the stage as a police officer amid the cheers of family and friends.

Moments later, the new officers were preliminarily sworn in, and their family members pinned their badges onto their uniforms for the first time.

In it’s 30th year of operation, the Lowell Police Academy graduated another class of officers on Friday morning.

The 21-week academy has been in operation since 1996, providing recruits with hundreds of hours of training in constitutional law, criminal law, criminal investigations, First Aid and CPR, firearms and defensive tactics, emergency vehicle operations and more.

The academy is certified by the Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC), and overseen by Lowell Police instructors and senior officers.

New officers now leave the academy for Brookline Police, Acton Police, Billerica Police, North Reading Police, Peabody Police, Malden Police, Revere Police, and Somerville Police.

“I congratulate all of these new officers on their hard-earned graduation. The Lowell Police Academy is rigorous and our expectations are high, but I still told these officers at graduation that this will be the easiest part of their careers. Now the real work begins,” said Lowell Police Superintendent Greg Hudon. “I want to thank these new officers for their dedication, and I want to thank their families for being so supportive.”