The Bowie police now have 47 officers to protect the citizens of Bowie, 10 shy of the projected number of officers slated when the agency was established nearly three years ago.

The Bowie City Council swore in the two veteran officers and five new officers at the Oct. 19 City Council meeting.

John McMaster, who lives in Laurel, was a four-year veteran of the New York City Police Department and Mathew Slack, also a Laurel resident, was a Maryland State trooper for three years.

The five new officers, recent recruits from the Southern Maryland and Anne Arundel County police academies, are Brian Mathew of Burtonsville, Erick Gonzalez of Lanham, Christopher Wuthrich of Lutherville and Bowie residents Brian Arnold and Harry Booth Jr.