36 New Law Enforcement Officers Ready to Protect Their Communities
On August 27, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that 36 law enforcement officers from agencies across the commonwealth have graduated from the Department of Criminal Justice Training’s (DOCJT) basic training academy in Richmond. These law enforcement officers now return home to serve, protect and create a safer New Kentucky Home.
“Kentucky’s law enforcement officers nobly commit themselves to making our communities safer each day, and today these graduates join their ranks and begin a lifetime of service,” Gov. Beshear said. “I ask all of Kentucky to join Britainy and me in praying these officers have a safe, fulfilling career.”
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 572 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 1,965 officers from DOCJT’s basic training academy. Today’s 36 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.
“I am proud of your commitment to learning the skills and knowledge presented in the Basic Training Academy and wish you success in implementing this training in your home communities,” said DOCJT Commissioner Mike Bosse. “You now carry with you the responsibility of serving with honor, integrity, fairness and transparency. Take this responsibility to heart and the people you protect will see how much you care.”
The Beshear-Coleman administration is proud to welcome the 36 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 572 graduates and their agencies are:
Peyton Baird
Boyle County Sheriff's Office
Phillip Bradley
Morehead Police Department
Dalton Carrico
Harrodsburg Police Department
Jacob Crews
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
Cody Curtsinger
Radcliff Police Department
Nathaniel Dodd
Pikeville Police Department
Mason Elliott
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport Police
Dawson Gay
Georgetown Police Department
Ethan Hargis
Pulaski County Sheriff's Office
Trey Hendrix
Williamsburg Police Department
Tyce Hornback
Mount Washington Police Department
Kennon Kemp
Nicholasville Police Department
Noah Leardon
Elsmere Police Department
Justin Lewis
Radcliff Police Department
Nathan Lucas
Georgetown Police Department
Jonathan Mattingly
Meade County Sheriff's Office
Andrew McCann
Flemingsburg Police Department
Levi McCarty
Pikeville Police Department
Stephan McClellan
Mayfield Police Department
Jordan Mitchell
Springfield Police Department.
Preston Napier
Mount Sterling Police Department
Brandon Parks
Pulaski County Sheriff's Office
Kathryn Piar
Corbin Police Department
Brittany Quire
Shelbyville Police Department
Syrus Ramsey
Pikeville Police Department
Jeffery Richardson
Irvine Police Department
Dalton Sego
Mount Washington Police Department
Dylan Smith
Boyle County Sheriff's Office
Daniel Spidle
Mt. Washington Police Department
Dillon Stevens
Montgomery County Sheriff's Office
Paul Tucker
Shelbyville Police Department
Daesean VanCleave
Taylor County Sheriff’s Office
Jameson Wall
Martin County Sheriff’s Office
Brenton Walters
Georgetown Police Department
Derek Wax
Somerset Police Department
Skylar Wyrick
Hazard 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.
In April, DOCJT broke ground on the Department of Criminal Justice Training West: Gaines-Brown Campus in Madisonville, 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.
Until completion of the Gaines-Brown campus, Team Kentucky is offering basic training in facilities provided by the Madisonville Police Department. As of August, 60 officers have graduated from the Western Kentucky Law Enforcement Training Facility.
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.
For more about the Beshear-Coleman administration’s work to build a safer New Kentucky Home, click here.
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