New dispatchers provide a lifeline to citizens and law enforcement officers
RICHMOND, Ky. (March 28, 2025) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that 30 dispatchers from across the state graduated from the Department of Criminal Justice Training’s Public Safety Dispatch Academy and are now ready to begin answering the call to aid both citizens and law enforcement officers of the commonwealth.
“Today you begin an admirable career in service to the commonwealth, serving as a lifeline to Kentuckians in some of their darkest times,” Gov. Beshear said. “Thank you for answering the call to service and thank you for serving your communities like only you can.”
Dispatch basic training is mandatory for any sworn or civilian employee who will dispatch law enforcement officers by radio at a Criminal Justice Information Systems agency. Graduates of the academy have successfully completed a highly structured and comprehensive curriculum to satisfy mandated training requirements. Over four weeks, the graduates of Class 163 received 164 hours of academy instruction to satisfy these requirements. Major training areas included identifying the role and responsibilities of the dispatcher, correct phone and radio procedures, handling emergency and nonemergency calls for service, using emergency medical dispatch protocols and using the state and national criminal databases.
“In completing your training at the academy, you have accomplished something great,” DOCJT Commissioner Mike Bosse said. “Your training has laid a solid foundation for a rewarding career, and I wish you nothing but the best of luck.”
DOCJT is the first in the nation to be accredited under the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies’ public safety training program designation.
Class 163 graduates and their agencies are:
Shane E. S. Adcock, Lexington Enhanced 911
Abbygail E. Becraft, Fleming County Dispatch
McKayla Ryleigh Billings, Frankfort Police Department
Serenity H. Blevins, Madison County E-911
Jacob R. Bower, Bell County Dispatch 911
Brandon Eugene Byers, Marion-Crittenden County E-911
Jo Lynn Colson, Marshall County E-911
Tyler Elizabeth Creek, Bowling Green Police Department
Susan Phelps-Culbertson, Frankfort Police Department
Erin A. Daniel, Lexington Enhanced 911
Kyndall Rayann Dockery, Muhlenberg County 911
Abigail G. Doss, Hopkinsville Police Department
Elisabeth Anna Earl, Henderson 911 ECC
Brandy S. Gray, Owensboro-Daviess County Central Dispatch
Valeska E. Gwathney, Bowling Green Police Department
Holden R. Hampton, Todd County Dispatch
Alexis M. Harris, Madison County E-911
Kaitlyn M. Hinds, Powell County Dispatch
Chelsea K. Hyman, Frankfort Police Department
Tyler K. Jenkins, Magoffin County 911
Kayla Marie Philomena Lynch, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport AOC
Enisa Mustafic, Warren County Sheriff’s Office
Benjamin C. Nunley, London/Laurel County Communications Center
William Jacob Oliver, Corbin Police Department
Emily L. Parks, City of Paducah 911
Ketzia Nicole Rivera Mercado, Oak Grove Police Department
Courtney Sargent, Lebanon Police Department
Jasmine S. Scott, Greenup County E-911
Nick C. Scott, Bluegrass 911 Central Communications
Joshua Grayson Tucker, Russell County Dispatch
DOCJT provides basic training for city and county police officers, sheriffs’ deputies, university police and airport police throughout the state, only excluding Louisville Metro Police Department, Lexington Police Department, Bowling Green Police Department, Owensboro Police Department and the Kentucky State Police, which have independent academies.
The Beshear-Coleman administration’s top priority is the safety of all Kentuckians. The Governor's public safety actions are creating safer communities and a better Kentucky.
On Feb. 28, the Beshear-Coleman administration welcomed the first basic training academy class to Western Kentucky. For the first time since basic training became mandatory in 1998, Kentucky is simultaneously offering training in two locations. The Department of Criminal Justice Training will train officers in a building provided by the Madisonville Police Department while Team Kentucky constructs a $50 million multipurpose training facility in Madisonville.
Since taking office, Gov. Beshear has awarded nearly $12 million in grant funding to assist state and local law enforcement agencies with enhancing public and officer safety, curbing the sale of illegal drugs and fighting addiction.
At the beginning of his second term, the Governor proposed a $500 increase to the law enforcement annual training stipend, but the General Assembly chose to provide a combined $262 increase over the next two years. The budget signed by the Governor raises the training stipend to an all-time high of $4,562 by fiscal year 2026. Additionally, the Governor is providing part-time law enforcement officers with an annual training stipend for the first time in the history of the commonwealth.
In July 2023, Gov. Beshear broke ground in Richmond on a new law enforcement training facility named in honor of Jody Cash, who lost his life in the line of duty May 16, 2022, while serving as chief deputy of the Calloway County Sheriff’s Department.
In June 2022, Gov. Beshear announced the Military to Law Enforcement Program (M-2-LE). M-2-LE allows local law enforcement agencies in Kentucky to hire active service members within all U.S. military branches during their last 180 days of service. Upon being contracted by a law enforcement agency, the military member will continue to receive their pay and benefits from the U.S. Military while they undergo law enforcement training at the Department of Criminal Justice Training.
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