Menlo Park Police Acting Chief Greg R. Rothaus officiated over the swearing-in ceremony of the Department’s newest members; Officers Joseph Hinkston, Kenneth Clayton and Stanley Szeto. The ceremony occurred Tuesday, January 15th at the Menlo Park Council Chambers.

Chief Rothaus introduced and presented the new officers their gold badges that were pinned to their uniforms by family members. City Clerk, Susan Ramos then led them in swearing their allegiance to the United States Constitution. Chief Rothaus then recognized and commended Sergeant Eric Cowans and Detective Alex Bouja for their time and effort that they had contributed to our Employee-Mentoring Program.

Officers Joseph Hinkston and Kenneth Clayton were hired in July 2001. Prior to joining the Menlo Park Police Department they were Juvenile Probation Officers for the County of San Mateo working out of the Hillcrest Facility. They were sent to the Evergreen Police Academy in San Jose that they graduated from in December 2001.

Officer Joseph Hinkston was born and raised in Oakland, where he attended Oakland Technical High School. Following graduation he continued his education at College of Notre Dame.

Officer Clayton was born and raised in San Mateo, where he attended Hillsdale High School. He continued his studies Canada College and Belmont’s College of Notre Dame. In addition to working as a Juvenile Probation Officer, he had also worked for the California Department of Forestry as a firefighter.

Officer Stan Szeto first hired as a Reserve Police Officer in October 2001, due to an opening in the organization and the skills he had demonstrated while in training he was then hired as full time police officer. Officer Szeto was born and in San Francisco and raised in Milpitas, where he attended Milpitas High School. He studied at San Jose State University where he earned a B.S. in AJ. Before joining the Menlo Park Police Department, he worked in the computer field and as an officer with the Newark Police Department.

Photographs of our new officers are included below, and may also be obtained by contacting Nicole Acker at 650.858.3323. ###