BY B.G. GREGG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[hopkins]](/editions/1998/12/12/hopkins_180x112.jpg)
Rebecca Hopkins, shot with a blank in training, salutes during Friday's graduation exercises.
(Glenn Hartong photo)
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It was not difficult to spot Rebecca Hopkins among the 43 Cincinnati Police Division recruits who graduated to officers Friday.
As much as she might have liked to remain inconspicuous, the officer, who lost her spleen and a kidney when she was shot in the back Nov. 18 during a training session, stood out.
She was thin and pale, walking a little slower and stiffer than the rest. She wasn't wearing a heavy gun belt. Her cushioned, sturdy wooden chair stood out among her fellow officers' metal folding chairs.
The class video was dedicated to her. Several speakers mentioned her. Television cameras followed her.
Ms. Hopkins, 25, was held up as a symbol of the determination and hard work of a class that lost only one recruit through 22 weeks of intense physical and mental training.
"She has shown to be an extremely courageous officer, one with a lot of fortitude," said acting Police Chief Theodore J. Schoch. "This is a such a neat class, and you can see why when you see people like this."
Class valedictorian Aaron R. Jones said Ms. Hopkins, and another recruit, Deron J. Hall, were both injured during training incidents, and that the trouble spurred the class to rally as a team - with two other recruits receiving commendations for the way they handled emergency situations after the incidents.
He also noted proudly that both of the injured were able to make it to graduation.
"They are shining examples of perseverance and dedication; they are examples to us all," he said.
Even on Wednesday, it was not clear whether Ms. Hopkins would be able to walk through graduation with her classmates. Only recently released from University Hospital, doctors expect it will take seven or eight months for her injuries to heal.
Ms. Hopkins was shot in the lower back with a .38-caliber blank round at close range during a low-light training exercise at the Evendale target range. Police have suspended use of blanks during training because of the accident.
Ms. Hopkins, the daughter of retired Cincinnati Police Division Officer Larry Hopkins and his wife, Gail, said only a few words after graduation.
"It meant so much for me to get letters and card from people I didn't even know," she said.
Her father said his daughter used to ride a few shifts in his cruiser and the cruisers of some of his friends, and one day announced that she wanted to be a police officer.
"She has a lot of zeal and a lot of desire to do this job," he said. Mrs. Hopkins said, as a police wife, she always lived in fear of getting "the call."
"The very first thing I thought when they called was, 'There's that phone call,' " she said. "You always expect it. But it wasn't supposed to be Becky."
While Ms. Hopkins will not be able to work as an officer for awhile, her classmates will be assigned to seasoned field training officers on Monday. After 12 weeks, they will hit the streets on their own, but be on 18 months of probation.
Lt. Steven J. Sarver, acting police academy director, said each of the 43 recruits persevered through background checks, a psychological evaluation, polygraph test, firearm training, exhaustive physical training and several academic tests to reach this point.
"These 43 people were decent people when they came to us," he said. "These 43 people are outstanding now."
![[hopkins]](/editions/1998/12/12/hopkins_600x374.jpg)