From Training to Service: The 342nd Class Embarks on a New Chapter
Photos by Jeff Tuttle
After 14 weeks, the graduates of the 342nd Basic Training Class at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC) were ready to go home. Family and friends gathered in Integrity Auditorium to watch their loved ones take the oath and return to their respective communities to serve.
Steve McCorkill, Police Instructor Senior and Class Coordinator at KLETC, introduced the graduating class. KLETC was honored to have Representative Kyle Hoffman of the Kansas House of Representatives speak to the class and guests.
Hoffman shared the following advice with the 342nd:
“Actions will delineate and define you as you go back to your communities. Be the leader I know you are capable of being. Act in a way that will make people want to respect you. And I know—no matter what comes—you will find fulfillment and pride in your service.”
Officer Michael Cook from the Dodge City Police Department, class president, addressed the audience and his fellow graduates, reflecting on the bond they had built over the past 14 weeks:
“We not only came together to form a team of unique and diverse individuals, we managed to do it by showing one another the compassion and empathy to push not only ourselves, but to positively push one another while facing the many challenges of the unknown.”
Under the authority of Vice Provost and Director of Police Training Darin Beck, graduates received certificates attesting the satisfactory completion of a full-time basic course of instruction, and certification as Kansas law enforcement officers from the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, the state’s Law enforcement licensing authority.
The following are the graduates of the 342nd basic training class:
*Awards in italics
Daniel Alexander, Grant County Sheriff's Office
Jade Carlson, Altamont Police Department
Michael Cook, Dodge City Police Department: Fitness, Class President
Baylie Dunstan, Lincoln County Sheriff's Office
Isaiah Flores, Ulysses Police Department
Samuel Fuentes, Dodge City Police Department
Elias Garcia, Norton Police Department
Brett Heckel, Finney County Sheriff's Office
Dallas Hoffman, Reno County Sheriff's Office
Aaron Hoffman, University of Kansas Med Center Police Dept
Cameron Johnson, Fort Scott Police Department
Dawson LaFleur, Marysville Police Department
Gabriel Latalladi, MTAA Police & Fire Department
Michael Messersmith, Finney County Sheriff's Office
Layne Mottin, Hiawatha Police Department
Samantha Mullins, Salina Police Department
Cortlan Nero, Valley Center Police Department: Fitness
Martin Rodriguez, Dodge City Police Department: Fitness
Bryce Signer, Elk County Sheriff's Office
Russell Thomas, Osawatomie Police Department
Roberto Trigueros, Kansas State University Police Department: Honors
Gavin Turner, Winfield Police Department
Tyler Wicks, Rawlins County Sherriff's Office
