Jay Torres said his biggest regret is he will not be able to serve with his father, who was killed on duty last summer.
ay Torres, son of Officer Jose Torres, who was killed working a traffic detail in July, holds the hat that was given to him at his father's funeral. Behind him on the wall the Westfield Police Department are photos of his father being sworn-in as a police officer and others of his funeral procession. Jay has been sworn in a an auxiliary police officer and will attend the police academy in April.
WESTFIELD – From the time he was a small boy, Jay Torres knew he wanted to be a police officer, a dream he took the first step toward fulfilling this week when he was sworn in as an auxiliary officer on the department that was home to his father, officer Jose Torres.
It is a possible career path that has taken on a whole new meaning for the 19-year-old who, along with his mother, Kara, and brother, Christopher, 13, lost Jose Torres on July 26 when he was struck by a truck while working a traffic detail on Pontoosic Road.
Jay Torres is quick to point out that this is just a first step, one in many, toward following in his father’s footsteps in becoming what he viewed in his youth as the job of a superhero.
“Ever since I was little I wanted to be a police officer,” he said. “It definitely had a lot to do with the fact that officers are like superheroes when you’re little. They go out and catch the bad guys and save people.”
A second-year criminal justice major at Westfield State University, Torres was among three other potential police officers who were sworn into their volunteer positions.
Westfield Police Lt. Hipolito Nunez said there are currently 34 auxiliary police officers on the force, all of whom must graduate from the police academy after a 16-week program designed to teach the basics of police work. Torres is slated to start the academy in April.
“I would be thrilled to eventually become a full-time officer in Westfield,” Torres said. “But this is the first step of many. I still have lots of training ahead of me.”
The late Westfield police officer Jose Torres, seen here in a 1999 photo.
“Over the years, and especially the past few months, I have learned that the Westfield Police Department is a family,” Torres said. “They look out for each other while at the same time protect each other and do their jobs.”
Becoming a police officer, remaining vigilant to the process and fulfilling the duties of the position are not easy tasks, but are ones he is willing to embrace with the help of his family on the department and the people with whom he was sworn in.
“I know the demands of a police officer’s job are nowhere near easy, but it is a job that I feel I not only want, but need to do,” Torres said. “I am very excited to be starting this journey with a big group of people who have the same goal.”
His biggest regret is that he will not be sharing the job with his father, a well-liked and respected 27-year veteran of the force who was twice recognized for heroism on the job.
“I wish I had the chance to work alongside my father,” Torres said. “I think that would have been the highlight of becoming a WPD officer. He is still there in many ways, especially in the people he helped and in his brothers and sisters in the department.”
Nunez said becoming an auxiliary officer is a great way for someone interested in law enforcement to test the waters and determine if the job is right for them.
As for Jay, Nunez said the young man may find it is not in his future, but for now, he fully supports the son of one of his closest friends.
“If this is the future he wants, I think it’s great,” Nunez said. “It’s rewarding, and if he feels it’s right for him and will make him happy it will propel him to follow in his father’s footsteps.”