INDIANAPOLIS, IN — The 82nd Indiana State Police Recruit Academy completed its graduation ceremony Thursday evening in the Indiana State Capitol Rotunda.
Opening remarks were made by Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas G. Carter followed by a commencement address from Jerome Ezell, a retired Indiana State Police Major.
After the commencement address, the oath of office for the 18 new State Police troopers was delivered by Indiana Supreme Court Justice Christopher M. Goff.
Each new trooper was then presented their badge and official identification by Superintendent Carter and his staff.
The graduating troopers have been assigned to one of 14 State Police Posts across Indiana.
Once at their assigned district, the new troopers will spend the next three months working side by side with a series of experienced Field Training Officers.
The purpose of the field training is to put to practical application the training received throughout the formal academy training.
Upon successful completion of field training, the new troopers will be assigned a state police patrol vehicle and will begin solo patrol in their assigned district.
Two of the new troopers have been assigned to the Versailles Post.
Brian Weigel of Guilford and Columbus native Payton Utterback will patrol District 42, which includes Ripley, Decatur, Franklin, Dearborn, and six other Southeastern Indiana counties.
Lawrenceburg native Avery Weisbrodt was assigned to the Pendleton Post.
The graduation marked the culmination of 23 weeks of intense training which totaled more than 1,100 hours.
Some subject areas of training included criminal and traffic law, de-escalation, emergency vehicle operations, defensive tactics, firearms, impaired driving detection, scenario-based training, and a host of other academic subjects related to modern policing.
