BATON ROUGE - A class of Louisiana State Police cadets moves on to 20 weeks of intense training Sunday, marking a new step in their journey towards becoming state troopers.

However, getting to this point wasn’t an easy task according to the cadets and their superiors.

“Well, I’m excited to have these 36 cadets report for training and hopefully move forward in their progression in becoming an LSP trooper,” State police Superintendent Colonel Kevin W. Reeves said.

After months of academy training, cadet class 96 will head to roughly 20 weeks of training in various subjects, including advanced crash investigation, cultural diversity, effective communication, and leadership skills to name a few.

“What we want to instill in them is character, problem solving abilities, and the law enforcement techniques they will need moving forward,” Reeves said.

Candidates for state police cadet class 96 were chosen after an extensive hiring process. That process includes a written test, physical assessment, psychological evaluation, background investigation, polygraph and oral interview.

“Well, you know, I see a lot of fear a lot of the unknown. And I remember that from my first day at the training academy. So we look forward to them progressing through the training process,” Reeves said.

Colonel Reeves is hopeful the cadets will make it through the intense training period they are facing in the coming weeks.

“I certainly hope all of them will make it through. During the selection process we tried to select the best candidates we could, so that’s why my hope that in 20 weeks we will graduate 20 cadets,” Reeves added.

Upon successful completion of the LSP training academy, the newly graduated cadets will participate in a 10-14 week field training program before beginning their careers of dedication, protection, and service to the citizens of Louisiana. This is something the Colonel, says the department needs.

“As you know, we're on the edge of losing a lot of employees to retirement next year. So this will allow us to provide the safety that the public expects.” 

Cadet Class 96 is the fifth state police cadet class to be held since January of 2014. Cadet Class 95 graduated 46 new troopers on April 5th, of this year.