July 22, 2003

Contact: Lisa Webster, Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, (620) 694-1505.

Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center announces 43 July graduates

HUTCHINSON -- Forty-three new law enforcement officers were honored at a July 8 graduation ceremony at the University of Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in southern Reno County after completing a 14-week basic training program.

The graduates represent 38 municipal, county and state law enforcement agencies from across Kansas. They received certificates for course completion and Kansas law enforcement certification from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Commission, the state's law enforcement licensing authority.

The training course fulfills the 560-hour state-mandated 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.

The KLETC is a unit of the KU Continuing Education program. Established in 1968 as the central law enforcement training facility for the state, the center is located west of Yoder at a former naval air station.

KLETC directly trains the majority of municipal, county and state law enforcement officers in Kansas and oversees and monitors the training of the remaining officers at seven authorized and certified academy programs operated by local law enforcement agencies and the Kansas Highway Patrol. In addition, KLETC maintains and monitors the employment and training histories of all Kansas law enforcement officers in the Central Registry, created in 1982 by the Kansas Legislature for that purpose.

About 450 officers are trained annually at the center, which offered continuing education and specialized training to more than 2,500 Kansas officers last year.

Funding for the training center is generated from court docket fees from municipal and state courts. No funds from the state's general revenue are used to operate the center.

Twenty-five graduates granted permission to release their names to the public. Those graduates, their positions and their law enforcement by county are:

ALLEN COUNTY
Officer Lesa Cole, Iola Police Department

BARTON COUNTY
Deputy Sheriff Thomas A. Fischer, Barton County Sheriff's Office

BUTLER COUNTY
Officer Jeff D. Baker, El Dorado Police Department

CLOUD COUNTY
Deputy Brian M. Miller, Cloud County Sheriff's Office

COFFEY COUNTY
Patrolman Devin S. Haines, Burlington Police Department

FINNEY COUNTY
Officer Luke Foster, Garden City Police Department

FORD COUNTY
Officer Adam Doran, Dodge City Police Department

HARVEY COUNTY
Officer Joe Base, Walton Police Department

LINN COUNTY
Assistant Area Manager Phillip Buser, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks

MARION COUNTY
Acting Police Chief Joe Base, Goessel Police Department
Officer Phillip Hartsfield, Marion Police Department
Deputy David M. Martinez, Marion County Sheriff's Department
Officer Josh Whitwell, Marion Police Department

MITCHELL COUNTY
Patrolman Daniel Woods, Beloit Police Department

RAWLINS COUNTY
Officer Chase D. Anderson, Atwood Police Department

RENO COUNTY
Patrolman Michael Melott, Nickerson Police Department

REPUBLIC COUNTY
Deputy Sheriff Joshua R. Perez, Republic County Sheriff's Office

RUSSELL COUNTY
Officer Jeff VonLehe, Russell Police Department

SEDGWICK COUNTY
Public Safety Officer Bradlee D. Brown, Wichita Airport Authority Safety Department

SEWARD COUNTY
Officer Matthew Fenn, Seward County Sheriff's Office
Patrolman Ryan Kells, Liberal Police Department

SHAWNEE COUNTY
Officer Douglas Brown, Washburn University Police Department

SHERMAN COUNTY
Deputy Burton Pianalto, Sherman County Sheriff's Department

STAFFORD COUNTY
Patrolman Kirk Ives, Saint John Police Department

SUMNER COUNTY
Officer Chris Brodbeck, Mulvane Police Department