363rd Basic Training Class graduates from Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center

HUTCHINSON — Friends and family of the 363rd Basic Training Class at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center gathered in Integrity Hall to watch the students become Kansas’ newest law enforcement officers.

James Buettgenbach, police instructor senior, introduced the class, and Arash Mafi, University of Kansas provost and executive vice chancellor, spoke to the graduating class.

“There may be more classroom instruction in your futures, and it will be valuable. But there will also be a lot of informal learning ahead. It will happen during every shift and every interaction: traffic stops, emotionally charged conversations, investigations and crises. It will also happen in those moments when compassion for your fellow human being must be the first response. Every call for service is an opportunity to learn something new about your profession, your community and, most importantly, yourself,” Mafi said.

Macy Vogt, class president and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks officer, reflected on the 14 weeks the class spent training together.

“Fourteen weeks ago, we arrived here from different agencies, communities and backgrounds. Since then, we have been challenged, tested and held to a standard not only as law enforcement officers, but as individuals,” Vogt said. “Somewhere along the way, we also became a family. We learned to rely on one another, to have each other’s backs and to make sure no one faced those challenges alone.”

“Today, we leave KLETC with the knowledge and skills necessary to serve our communities.”

The Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, a division of KU 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.

Awards in italics:

• Kali Befort, Garden City Police Department, Finney County
• Jeffery Berryman II, Wellington Police Department, Sumner County
• Jacob Clary, Doniphan County Sheriff's Office, Doniphan County
• Kaleb Fetrow, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt County
• Caydon Good, Garden City Police Department, Finney County
• Eric Grooms, Butler County Sheriff's Office, Butler County: Fitness
• Jonathan Hawkins, Ottawa Police Department, Franklin County
• Zachary Hawley, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt County: Fitness
• Cody Johnson, Sheridan County Sheriff's Office, Sheridan County
• Caden Lantz, Clearwater Police Department, Sedgwick County
• Nicholas Macosky, Scott City Police Department, Scott County
• David Mathes, Buhler Police Department, Reno County
• Trevon Morrison, Rose Hill Police Department, Butler County
• Andrew Parnell, Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office, Pottawatomie County
• Lane Roberts, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt County
• Macy Vogt, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt County: Class President.