Graduation ceremony held for 86th ISP Recruit Academy

Friday, January 10, 2025 at 11:25 AM

By Staff report

Thirty new state police troopers will be assigned to one of 14 posts across the state after graduating from the 86th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy.

On Thursday, the 86th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy completed its graduation ceremony in the Indiana State Capitol Rotunda.

Opening remarks were made by Indiana State Police Training Division Commander Major Dana Harshman and ISP Recruit Academy Commander Lieutenant Brent Cox. The commencement addresses were made by ISP Superintendent Doug Carter and Megan Smith, wife of ISP Trooper Aaron Smith, who was killed in the line of duty on June 28, 2023.

After the commencement address, the oath of office for the 30 new state police troopers was delivered by Justice Christopher M. Goff, of the Indiana Supreme Court. Each new trooper was then presented their badge and official identification by Carter and his staff.

The graduation marked the culmination of 22 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.

Each graduating trooper will be 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.

The following graduation ceremony program lists each new trooper’s name and district of assignment: