Virginia State Police welcomes 59 new troopers to its ranks

130th Basic Session Motto: Trained by the Best, to Protect the Rest. Photo courtesy of VSP.

RICHMOND – On Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, the Commonwealth will graduate its 130^th generation of Virginia State Troopers. The 59 new troopers will be presented their diplomas during commencement exercises at 10 a.m. at the State Police Training Academy located at 7700 Midlothian Turnpike in North Chesterfield County. Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Ryant Washington will be in attendance of the graduation ceremony.

The new troopers have received more than 1,300 hours of classroom and field instruction in more than 100 different subjects, including defensive tactics, crime scene investigation, ethics and leadership, survival Spanish, police professionalism, firearms, judicial procedures, officer survival, cultural diversity and crisis management. The members of the 130^th Basic Session began their 29 weeks of academic, physical and practical training at the Academy March 20, 2019.

The soon-to-be graduates of the 130^th Basic Session are from every corner of the Commonwealth, as well as Alabama, Indiana, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Upon graduation, the new troopers will report to their individual duty assignments across Virginia the week of October 7. For their final phase of training, each trooper will spend an additional six weeks paired up with a Field Training Officer learning his or her new patrol area.

130^th BASIC GRADUATING CLASS