YODER — Twenty new law enforcement officers graduated from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC) on May 20 at a ceremony held in the KLETC Integrity Auditorium. 

Local graduates are Garrison Cobb, Hoisington Police Department, and Emma Mooney, Great Bend Police Department.

Officer Daniel Harshbarger of the Rose Hill Police Department was the graduating class president. The speaker for the ceremony was Sheriff Jack Laurie of the Atchison County Sheriff’s Office. Michael Turenne, KLETC senior instructor of police, was the class coordinator for the 293rd Basic Training Class.

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, KLETC 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 KLETC 14-week basic training programs. KLETC offers continuing education and specialized training to over 10,000 Kansas officers each year. KLETC is located one mile west and one mile south of Yoder, near Hutchinson, and is a division of University of Kansas Lifelong & Professional Education.

The graduates, who began their training in February 2022, represented multiple municipal, county and state law enforcement agencies from across Kansas.