Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center graduates 283rd Basic Training Class

YODER — Twenty-six new law enforcement officers graduated from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC) on Oct. 1 at a ceremony in KLETC’s Integrity Auditorium. 

Deputy Justin Hawks of the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office was the graduating class president. The speaker for the ceremony was Bill Carr, sheriff for Ford County. Rob McClarty, KLETC senior instructor of police, was the class coordinator for the 283rd Basic Training Class.

Officer Atticus Patterson of the Salina Police Department was awarded the Welch Academic Award, and Officer Trisha Huelsmann of the Garden Plain Police Department was honored with KLETC’s Fitness Award. Officer Cutter Brazle from the Winfield Police Department was also recognized during the ceremony for his firearms proficiency as the class’ “Top Shot.”

Graduates receive certificates of course completion from KLETC and Kansas law enforcement certification from the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, the state’s law enforcement licensing authority. The training course fulfills the state requirement for law enforcement training. Classroom lectures and hands-on applications help train officers to solve the increasingly complex problems they face in the line of duty.

Established by the Kansas Legislature in 1968, KLETC trains the majority of municipal, county and state law enforcement officers in Kansas and oversees the training of the remaining officers at seven authorized and certified academy programs operated by local law enforcement agencies and the Kansas Highway Patrol.

About 300 officers enroll annually in KLETC 14-week basic training programs. KLETC offers continuing education and specialized training to more than 10,000 Kansas officers each year. KLETC is located one mile west and one mile south of Yoder, near Hutchinson, and is a division of the University of Kansas Lifelong & Professional Education. The graduates, who began their training in June 2021, represented 22 municipal, county and state law enforcement agencies from across Kansas. Graduates are listed below by county and agency:

Barton
Nicholas Reed, Great Bend Police Department

Cherokee
Aaron Cockerel, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office

Cowley
Cutter Brazle, Winfield Police Department

Crawford
Alexandria Tippie, Pittsburg Police Department

Dickinson
Justin Hawks, Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office
Jimmy Wallace, Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office

Douglas
Kaden Hammer, University of Kansas Police Department
Blair Whaley, University of Kansas Police Department

Ellis
Collin Rose, Hays Police Department

Ellsworth
Sean Hanson, Ellsworth County Sheriff’s Office

Ford
Luis Marquez, Ford County Sheriff’s Office

Franklin
Madison Garner, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
Grant Reinking, Ottawa Police Department

Gove
Darien Dilka, Gove County Sheriff’s Office

Harvey
Tyson Ridenour, Newton Police Department

Jackson
Erik Heape, Prairie Band Pottawatomi Tribal Police

Labette
Ashlynn Anderson, Parsons Police Department

Leavenworth
Courtney Hobbs, Leavenworth Police Department

Linn
Allison Fox, La Cygne Police Department

Logan
Cory Sager, Oakley Police Department

Miami
Christopher Perkins, Osawatomie Police Department

Riley
Stephen Zapata, Riley County Police Department

Saline
Izaiah Grogan, Salina Police Department
Atticus Patterson, Salina Police Department

Sedgwick
Trisha Huelsmann, Garden Plain Police Department

Wyandotte
Corey Thomas, Bonner Springs Police Department

About the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center

Established by the Kansas Legislature in 1968 as the central law enforcement training facility for our state, the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC) serves as the headquarters for all law enforcement training in Kansas. Located at the former naval air station south of Hutchinson and west of Yoder in Reno County, Kansas, the Center’s mission, as expressed in the Law Enforcement Training Act, K.S.A. 74-5601 et. seq. is “the promotion and development of improved law enforcement personnel and procedures throughout the state, and the training center shall offer to qualified applicants such programs and courses of instruction designed to fulfill this end.” KLETC, a unit of the University of Kansas Lifelong & Professional Education, directly trains the overwhelming majority of municipal, county and state law enforcement officers in Kansas, and oversees, supervises and monitors the training of the remaining officers at eight authorized and certified academy programs operated by local law enforcement agencies and the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Photos: Top, Sheriff Bill Carr addresses the graduating members of KLETC's 283rd basic training class. Left, Darin Beck, KLETC executive director, and Justin Hawks, 283rd class president