Four New Officers Receive UMPD Badges

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The four newest officers of the UMass Amherst Police Department (UMPD) were sworn in and received their badges during ceremonies on Tuesday, April 2.

Officers George “Spencer” Hotz, Nathan Schreffler, Reynaldo Martinez, Jr. and Nicholas Thomann were welcomed to the ranks by Chief Tyrone Parham.

Hotz graduated from UMass Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Prior to joining the UMass Police Department in January 2018, he worked for the Hampshire County Sheriff’s Office where he served as a Correctional Officer for 4 years, while also serving as a part-time police officer for the Westhampton Police Department. He graduated from the Western Massachusetts Police Academy in August 2018.

Schreffler, who joined the department in January 2018, graduated from the Western Massachusetts Police Academy in August 2018. Prior to joining UMPD, Shreffler worked as a communications dispatcher in Southampton and as a security supervisor at Six Flags New England.

Hired in December 2018, Martinez comes to UMPD after working as a full-time police officer in Holyoke for two years. He worked as a police dispatcher for the cities of Holyoke and Northampton before that. He served as police cadet at UMPD from August 2013 to May 2018.

Thomann had been working for the Pelham Police Department since 2016 before joining the UMPD in February 2019. A 2018 graduate of the Western Mass Police Academy, Thomann was pinned by his father, Pelham Chief of Police Gary Thomann.  

Parham swore in the new officers as about 30 family members, friends, officers and university staff members watched.