Oklahoma City, OK: Fifty-four cadets will begin their new careers with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol on Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. when the 61st Oklahoma Highway Patrol Academy reports for duty. The twenty week, 1,300 training hours, live-in academy promises rigorous mental, physical and emotional demands on cadets as they learn public safety techniques, collision
reconstruction, traffic enforcement, alcohol, drug and motor vehicle/boating laws. Other training the cadets will undergo will be OHP history, physical fitness, patrol vehicle operations, firearms, drill and ceremony and OHP customs and courtesies.
Six women will begin the academy, the most females ever to start an OHP academy. DPS Commissioner Mike Thompson made it a priority of his administration to recruit qualified women and other minorities. “It is important for our agency to reflect the diversity of Oklahoma,” said Thompson. “We had 72 women apply and six qualified women made it through
the application process. We are excited for all the cadets as they begin their training and pursue a career with the Patrol,” Thompson said.
The 54 OHP cadets come from all walks of life. 12 are U.S. Military veterans, nine of those are combat veterans having served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. 46% of the cadets have had previous law enforcement experience. Other occupations represented include; farmhand, waitress, information technology, veterinarian assistant, banking, oilfield, landscaping and electrician. For others, this will be their first job since graduation from college. The cadet’s ages range between 23 and 35, with the median age being 27. Fourteen cadets are American Indian, one is Asian, three are African American and 35 are Caucasian. Three cadets possess Master’s degrees, 28 have their Bachelor’s degree and 15 have their Associate’s.
“We are anxious to get the training underway and get these new troopers out to their assignments where they are so desperately needed,” said Colonel Kerry Pettingill, Chief of the Patrol. “Our manpower numbers are down and the need is great in every part of the state for more troopers,” Said Pettingill. OHP is authorized 925 troopers and currently 769 troopers
serve the citizens of Oklahoma throughout the 77 counties of Oklahoma.
