HUTCHINSON — Anticipation filled the campus May 22 as friends and family gathered at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center to watch 23 graduates take the oath and walk across the stage in Integrity Hall, marking the beginning of their careers in law enforcement.
The graduates completed KLETC’s intensive 14-week basic training program before returning to serve the communities and agencies that sponsored them across Kansas.
Police Instructor Senior David Ohlde introduced the 357th Basic Training Class during the ceremony. U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall also visited the campus to address the graduates and audience.
“We understand that we ask a lot of you,” Marshall said. “In one shift, you may act as a social worker, a counselor, a medic and more, but I ask you, I implore you, meet every call with respect, with dignity and empathy. Never stop learning. Stay true to your training and your principles.”
Officer Jadon Schwartz of the Overland Park Police Department, president of the 357th Basic Training Class, also spoke to his classmates and those attending the ceremony.
“On the first day of class, we were asked to share our why. Some responses were more poetic than others, but almost all could be boiled down to a desire to make our respective communities a better, safer place,” Schwartz said. “Ironically, to be qualified to serve in our chosen career, we also had to leave those very communities behind for 14 weeks.”
The Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, a division of the University of Kansas since 1968, serves as the state’s central training agency for law enforcement officers.
Under the authority of Darin Beck, vice provost and director of police training, graduates received certificates attesting to the satisfactory completion of a full-time basic course of instruction, and certification as Kansas law enforcement officers from the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, the state’s law enforcement licensing authority.
The following are the graduates of the 357th basic training class:
Atchison County
- Gunnar Koontz, Atchison Police Department
Crawford County
- Lacey Humble, Crawford County Sheriff's Office
- Ian Palmer, Pittsburg Police Department
Douglas County
- Nathaniel Criqui, Eudora Police Department
Ellis County
- Lucas Hecker, Ellis County Sheriff's Office
- Devin Henderson, Hays Police Department
- Martha Saldana-Rodriguez, Hays Police Department (Fitness Award)
Franklin County
- Hadyn Bieling, Franklin County Sheriff's Office
- Kaden Castleberry, Franklin County Sheriff's Office
Johnson County
- Benjamin Darlington, Overland Park Police Department
- Joshua Firman, Overland Park Police Department
- Jadon Schwartz, Overland Park Police Department (class president, honors)
Leavenworth County
- Kent Cullumber, Leavenworth County Sheriff's Office (Fitness Award)
Miami County
- Ashley Gregory, Miami County Sheriff's Office
- Owen LaMar, Miami County Sheriff's Office
Mitchell County
- Logan Brummer, Beloit Police Department
Reno County
- Camre Haumont, Hutchinson Police Department
- Geranie Haynes, South Hutchinson Police Department
- Raylee Johnson, Hutchinson Police Department
- Kyle Miller, Hutchinson Police Department
Seward County
- Joshua Strawn, Liberal Police Department (Fitness Award)
Wilson County
- Lacie Culbertson, Fredonia Police Department
Wyandotte County
- Daniel Johnson, Wyandotte County Sheriff's Office.