New dispatchers provide a lifeline to citizens and law enforcement officers
RICHMOND, Ky. (Sept. 2, 2025) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that 20 dispatchers from across Kentucky graduated on Aug. 29 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.
“The work you do to support public safety is vital in our effort to build a safer New Kentucky Home,” Gov. Beshear said. “Thank you for stepping up to help your fellow Kentuckians in their times of greatest need and thank you for supporting all our public safety heroes.”
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 167 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.
“The role of a public safety dispatcher is an honorable one,” DOCJT Commissioner Mike Bosse said. “Dispatchers are the invisible first responders — the steady voice that turns panic into action and connects those in need with those who can help. Good luck in what will be a successful career.
“The profession you have chosen requires a high degree of commitment, honor and professionalism,” Bosse continued. “I commend you and wish you the best of luck in your careers.”
Class 167 graduates and their agencies are:
Kenzi S. Bryant, Butler County E-911
Emily Paige Carter, Nelson County E-911
Allyson N. Clark, Owensboro-Daviess County Central Dispatch
Aaron Haas, Campbell County Dispatch
Cisley C. Harris, Kentucky State University Police Department
Kasey L. Harrison, Blue Grass Airport Department of Public Safety
Taylor E. Hatter, Bluegrass 911 Central Communication
Austin T. Horn, Martin County 911
Deven Hutchinson, Prestonsburg Police Department
Linda Lan, Bowling Green Police Department
Peyton Elizabeth Maness, Calloway County Sheriff’s Office 911 Communications Center
Olivia M. Mattingly, Blue Grass Airport Department of Public Safety
Maria D. Morales, Versailles Police Department
Megan Elizabeth Peders, Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office E-911 Center
Stephen E. Perkins, Clinton County Emergency Services
Sashy M. Ramirez-Gomez, Bowling Green Police Department
Samuel A. Roberts Jr., Clay County 911
Christina Marie Ronna, Campbellsville Police Department
McKenna G. Spalding, Hardin County 911
James R. Wilkinson, River County E-911
DOCJT provides basic training for city and county police officers, sheriffs’ deputies, university police and airport police throughout the state, only excluding the Louisville Metro Police Department, Lexington Police Department, Bowling Green Police Department, Owensboro Police Department and the Kentucky State Police, each of 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.
In June, 21 officers graduated from the first basic training class from the Western Kentucky Law Enforcement Training Facility in Madisonville. The Beshear-Coleman administration welcomed the class in February. 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.
Ensuring Kentucky becomes a national leader in public safety requires equal opportunities for all Kentuckians so they can begin to turn their dreams into reality starting at an early age. On June 4, the Beshear-Coleman administration launched the "Pre-K for All" initiative, which aims to advance the commonwealth's public early childhood education system and job growth. While this is projected to grow Kentucky's workforce and enhance the state’s economy, studies also show that Kindergarten readiness prevents crime and incarceration later in life. A safer New Kentucky Home will be achieved when we reduce recidivism, end generational cycles of crime and addiction by ensuring young Kentuckians have access to quality education.
Recently, Gov. Andy Beshear was joined by members of the Cash family, the Kentucky law enforcement community and the Department of Criminal Justice Training to officially open the doors to the 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 Office. The Beshear administration broke ground on the Jody Cash Multipurpose Training Facility in July 2023. The facility is a 42,794-square-foot facility with a 50-yard, 30-lane firing range designed for officers to learn intensive and specialized training that will support training all of Kentucky’s law enforcement agencies.
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 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 their branch of the armed forces while they undergo law enforcement training at DOCJT.
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