The 74th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy held its graduation ceremony, last evening, Dec. 23, in the south atrium of the Indiana State Capitol Rotunda in Indianapolis.

Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter addressed the graduating recruits, followed by a keynote address from William Westfall, a nationally recognized law enforcement trainer. After the keynote address the oath of office for the 42 new state police officers was delivered by Loretta H. Rush, chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Each new trooper was then presented a state police badge.

The graduation was the culmination of 23 weeks of intense training totaling 929 hours. Some subject areas of training included criminal and traffic law, crash investigations, emergency vehicle operations, defensive tactics, firearms and a host of other subjects related to modern policing.

The next step for each graduating officer will be reporting to one of the 14 state police posts across Indiana. Once at their assigned post the new troopers will work with a series of experienced field training officers over the next three months. The purpose of the field training is to put to practical application the training received over the past six months. Upon successful completion of field training, the new troopers will be issued their state police patrol vehicle and will begin solo patrol.