23 Officers Graduate From Third Class at Western Kentucky Basic Training Academy
On August 20, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that 23 law enforcement officers from agencies across the commonwealth have graduated from the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training’s (DOCJT) basic training academy in Madisonville. These law enforcement officers now return home to serve, protect and create a safer New Kentucky Home.
“Thank you for putting in the work and answering the call to make our commonwealth a safer place,” Gov. Beshear said. “All of Kentucky is praying for you and your families as you begin this career in service to your communities.”
Class 571 is the third to graduate from the Western Kentucky Law Enforcement Training Facility in Madisonville. The current temporary facility opened in February 2025, marking the first time since basic training became mandatory in 1998 that Kentucky is simultaneously offering training in two locations. Since the facility opened, 60 officers have graduated from the Western Kentucky academy.
In April, DOCJT broke ground on the Department of Criminal Justice Training West: Gaines-Brown Campus, which, when completed, will house two buildings – a 42,800-square-foot classroom and administration building providing learning space, offices and recruit showers and changing areas, as well as a 30,625-square-foot high bay building, which will house an open training area, additional classroom space and gym equipment. The 2026-2028 state budget also allocates $13.1 million to construct a driving track at the new facility. The General Assembly did not include the full $64.8 million requested by the Governor in his executive budget proposal to construct both a driving track and an indoor firing range at the Madisonville facility.
DOCJT is committed to providing officers with best practices, the latest technology training and legal information to protect the diverse communities they serve. The graduates of Class 571 received more than 800 hours of recruit-level instruction over 20 weeks. Major training areas included patrol procedures, physical training, vehicle operations, defensive tactics, criminal law, traffic and DUI, firearms, criminal investigations, cultural awareness, bias-related crimes, and tactical responses to crisis situations.
Since December 2019, the Beshear-Coleman administration has graduated 1,929 officers from DOCJT’s basic training academy. Today’s 23 graduating law enforcement officers will begin working with the 8,000 other officers of the commonwealth to create a commonwealth that is safer for all Kentuckians.
“During the past 20 weeks you have listened earnestly to the training and guidance from your class coordinator and instructors at DOCJT,” said DOCJT Commissioner Mike Bosse. “I urge you to remember their instruction and commit the skills you take with you to heart. Their voices of experience will serve you well as you serve your community.”
The Beshear-Coleman administration is proud to welcome the 23 new law enforcement officers into the partnership of public safety. Along with all those currently serving in law enforcement, graduates will play key roles in the ongoing effort to make each of Kentucky’s communities safer.
Class 571 graduates and their agencies are:
Clayton P. Baldwin
Paducah Police Department
Erin M. Barnett
Leitchfield Police Department
Randall B. Carroll
Henderson Police Department
Silas M. Compton
Webster County Sheriff’s Office
Alexander G. Dahan
Elkton Police Department
Kip C. Darnell
Lyon County Sheriff’s Office
William Bradley Dunning
Lyon County Sheriff’s Office
Zackary J. Duvall
Daviess County Sheriff’s Office
Stephen P. Graham
Henderson Police Department
Nathan S. Hayes
Leitchfield Police Department
Justin D. Horne
Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office
Travis W. Kodiak
Lewisburg Police Department
Logan C. Lapatas
Paducah Police Department
Jacob M. Mead
Murray Police Department
Aidan T. Moore
Trigg County Sheriff’s Office
Victor Ochoa
Warren County Sheriff’s Office
Amy B. Santiago
Trigg County Sheriff’s Office
Breanna N. Swanberg
Warren County Sheriff’s Office
Bodie R. Taggett
Paducah Police Department
Matthew Ryan Utley
Henderson Police Department
Stalin John N. Vallecer
Christian County Sheriff’s Office
Hunter West
Warren County Sheriff’s Office
Devin M. White
Vine Grove Police Department
DOCJT provides basic training for city and county police officers, sheriffs’ deputies, university police, airport police throughout the state, only excluding Louisville Metro Police Department, Lexington Police Department, Bowling Green Police Department and the Kentucky State Police, which each have independent academies.
DOCJT is nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). CALEA is seeking public input regarding DOCJT’s compliance with CALEA standards, engagement in the service community, delivery of public safety services, and overall candidacy for accredited status. Click here to submit comments.
Beshear-Coleman Administration Commitment to Making Kentucky a National Leader in Public Safety
The Beshear-Coleman administration’s top priority is the safety of all Kentuckians. The Governor's public safety actions are creating safer communities and a better Kentucky.
The Governor continues to support law and champion law enforcement. The recently passed 2026-2028 state budget also includes funds to raise the annual law enforcement training stipend to $4,746 for full-time officers by 2028 – another all-time high.
Protecting the commonwealth’s schools are a top priority of Team Kentucky. In August, the Governor announced that 1,315 Kentucky public schools are following statutory safety requirements required by the School Safety and Resiliency Act and that the number of school resource officers protecting schools has increased more than 100% since he took office.
Since Gov. Beshear took office, fewer Kentuckians have returned to prison after their release. For two years in a row, recidivism rates in the commonwealth have decreased, meaning that nearly 70% of those released from state custody have not returned.
The 2025 Crime in Kentucky report, released in June, shows that, from 2024 to 2025, there was an overall decrease of 8.14% in reports of serious crime.
For four straight years, overdose deaths have decreased in Kentucky. In 2025, the commonwealth saw 22.9% fewer overdose deaths than the year prior.
In April 2025, Gov. Beshear officially opened the doors to the new law enforcement training facility named in honor of Jody Cash, who lost his life in the line of duty. The facility is designed for officers to learn intensive and specialized training that will support all of Kentucky’s law enforcement agencies.
Since taking office, Gov. Beshear has awarded more than $13 million in grant funding to assist state and local law enforcement agencies with enhancing public and officer safety, curbing the sale of illegal drugs and fighting addiction.
In June 2022, Gov. Beshear announced the Military to Law Enforcement Program (M-2-LE), which allows local law enforcement agencies in Kentucky to hire active service members within all U.S. military branches during their last 180 days of service. Upon being contracted by a law enforcement agency, the military member will continue to receive their pay and benefits from their branch of the armed forces while they undergo law enforcement training at DOCJT.
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