357th Basic Training Class completes training at KLETC

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,” said Schwartz. “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:

• Hadyn Bieling, Franklin County Sheriff's Office, Franklin County
• Logan Brummer, Beloit Police Department, Mitchell County
• Kaden Castleberry, Franklin County Sheriff's Office, Franklin County
• Nathaniel Criqui, Eudora Police Department, Douglas County
• Lacie Culbertson, Fredonia Police Department, Wilson County
• Kent Cullumber, Leavenworth County Sheriff's Office, Leavenworth County (Fitness Award)
• Benjamin Darlington, Overland Park Police Department, Johnson County
• Joshua Firman, Overland Park Police Department, Johnson County
• Ashley Gregory, Miami County Sheriff's Office, Miami County
• Camre Haumont, Hutchinson Police Department, Reno County
• Geranie Haynes, South Hutchinson Police Department, Reno County
• Lucas Hecker, Ellis County Sheriff's Office, Ellis County
• Devin Henderson, Hays Police Department, Ellis County
• Lacey Humble, Crawford County Sheriff's Office, Crawford County
• Daniel Johnson, Wyandotte County Sheriff's Office, Wyandotte County
• Raylee Johnson, Hutchinson Police Department, Reno County
• Gunnar Koontz, Atchison Police Department, Atchison County
• Owen LaMar, Miami County Sheriff's Office, Miami County
• Kyle Miller, Hutchinson Police Department, Reno County
• Ian Palmer, Pittsburg Police Department, Crawford County
• Martha Saldana-Rodriguez, Hays Police Department, Ellis County (Fitness Award)
• Jadon Schwartz, Overland Park Police Department, Johnson County (class president, honors)
• Joshua Strawn, Liberal Police Department, Seward County (Fitness Award).