Wednesday, August 18, 2010

New Troopers Graduate Training Academy This Week

NEWS RELEASE – #2010-43

DATE: August 18, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW TROOPERS GRADUATE TRAINING ACADEMY THIS WEEK

On Thursday, the Kansas Highway Patrol’s 20 newest troopers (Class #49) will graduate from the Kansas Highway Patrol Training Academy in Salina after undergoing five months of rigorous training. These graduates will be stationed throughout the state in areas where additional coverage is much needed.

“This is an exciting time for the Patrol,” Patrol Superintendent, Colonel Terry Maple said. “These new troopers will hit the road and have been assigned to areas where we’ve needed more help for quite some time. We haven’t graduated a class from the Academy since 2008, and it is long overdue.”

Speaking at the event will be Governor Mark Parkinson, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mary Lou Leary with the U.S. Department of Justice, and Maple. The Class President will give a class response, and KHP Classes #20 and 21 (who graduated in 1984 and 1985) will be recognized. The Roll of Honor for KHP’s 10 officers lost in the line of duty will be read, as well as recognition to those Kansas officers who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice in the past year.

Due to budget, this is the first training class the Kansas Highway Patrol has had since the 10 members of Class #48 graduated in December 2008. Last year, the Patrol was awarded an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to create a Domestic Highway Enforcement Team to help combat crime on the rural and interstate highways of Kansas. With the creation of this team, and moving team members to the newly created unit, the funding originally used for team members’ salaries then went toward hiring and training a new class.

Graduation information is as follows:

DATE: August 19, 2010
1:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Kansas Highway Patrol Training Academy
2025 E. Iron Avenue
Salina, Kansas 67401

The class will have undergone 897 hours of training upon their graduation. Their training covers law enforcement-related topics including car stops, Kansas law, physical training, firearms, and more. Upon graduation from the Training Academy, the new troopers will undergo 70 days in field training with their Field Training Officers in the areas of the state in which they will be stationed.