Ottawa Police Department Chief Dennis Butler congratulated 57 new law enforcement officers during their graduation from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center Friday, July 11, in Yoder, Kan.
The new officers were members of the 229th basic training class at the center. Located one mile west and one mile south of Yoder, near Hutchinson, the center is a division of University of Kansas Continuing Education.
The graduates, who began their training March 31, represented 39 municipal, county and state law enforcement agencies from across Kansas.
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, the center 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 the 14-week basic training program. The center offered continuing education and specialized training to as many as 5,600 Kansas officers each year. Funding for the training center is generated from court docket fees from municipal and state courts. No funds from the state’s general revenue are used to operate the center.
Graduates from Wyandotte County include:
• Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department, Danica Baird; deputy; Kansas City, Kan.
• Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools Police Department; Bernadette Bayless-Rios; patrol officer; Kansas City, Kan.
• Kansas City Kansas Community College Campus Police; Robert Blanchard; patrol officer; Kansas City, Kan.
• Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools Police Department, Ernest Greene; patrol officer; Kansas City, Kan.
• Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department; Jonathan Hainje; deputy; Kansas City, Kan.