New dispatchers provide a lifeline to citizens and law enforcement officers
RICHMOND, Ky. (April 10, 2026) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that 24 dispatchers from across Kentucky graduated from the Department of Criminal Justice Training’s (DOCJT) 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 critical lifeline you provide for Kentuckians during their darkest and most difficult moments is truly heroic,” Gov. Beshear said. “The entire commonwealth thanks you for your dedication and commitment to public service, and we wish you the best in your careers.”
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 170 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.
“I am proud of everything you’ve achieved at the academy,” DOCJT Commissioner Mike Bosse said. “These four weeks of rigorous training have prepared you to serve your communities with skill, integrity, and dedication. I have no doubt your efforts will make a meaningful difference, and I wish you every success as you begin this important work.”
Class 170 graduates and their agencies are:
Danielle Mae Angel, Jackson County E-911
Ayden C. Bowles, Jackson County E-911
Danielle Calhoun, Pulaski County 911 Center
Marcus A. Chaney, Bell County Dispatch
Austin B. David, Barren-Metcalfe ECC
Gavin W. Fint, Frankfort Police Department
Tamera S. Gilpin, Hardin County 911
Nicholas S. Hays, Jackson County E-911
Nadirah S. Hodgkin, Cincinnati/Northern KY International Airport AOC
Makiya Holmes, Webster County 911
James Robert Kenoyer, Clinton County 911
Anna Maria Martinez-Gomez, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky KY International Airport AOC
Aaron M. Messer, Hazard Police Department
Joshua T. Muncy, Bluegrass 911 Central Communications
Christian Tyler Preece, Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office
Heather D. Reilly, Danville Police Department
Bri Ridge, Danville Police Department
Abigail B. Rosenbalm, Shelby County 911 Communications
Adam Royer, Blue Grass Airport Police Department
Alice Louise Runyon, Lexington Enhanced 911
Luke E. Southerland, Boone County PSCC
Travis M. Thomason, Muhlenberg County 911
Alexandra C. Whitehead, Leslie County 911
Joshua N. Worthington, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
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 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.
Protecting the commonwealth’s schools are a top priority of Team Kentucky. In August 2025, the Governor announced that 1,315 Kentucky public schools are following statutory safety requirements required by the School Safety and Resiliency Act and that the number of school resource officers protecting schools has increased more than 100% since he took office.
Since Gov. Beshear took office, fewer Kentuckians have returned to prison after their release. Last week, the Governor announced that the state’s recidivism rate decreased for the second year in a row. Of those inmates released two years ago, nearly 70% of those released from state custody have not returned.
The 2024 Crime in Kentucky report, released in June 2025, shows that, from 2023 to 2024, there was an overall decrease of 7.66% in reports of serious crime.
For three straight years, overdose deaths have decreased in Kentucky. In 2024, the commonwealth saw 30.2% fewer overdose deaths than the year prior. Gov. Beshear continued this progress last fall by scheduling 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) as a Schedule I narcotic, making it illegal to sell, possess or distribute any isolated or concentrated forms of 7-OH in the state.
For the first time, Kentucky is simultaneously offering basic training in two locations, Richmond and Madisonville. As of January, 37 officers have graduated from the Western Kentucky Law Enforcement Training Facility, which is currently in a building provided by the Madisonville Police Department. Team Kentucky is in the process of constructing a new, state-of-the-art facility in Madisonville, and Gov. Beshear's 2026-2028 executive budget requests an additional $64.8 million to construct the remaining critical elements of the facility, including an indoor firing range and a driving track.
In April 2025, Gov. Beshear officially opened the doors to the new law enforcement training facility named in honor of Jody Cash, who lost his life in the line of duty. The facility is designed for officers to learn intensive and specialized training that will support 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 annual law enforcement training stipend, but the General Assembly chose to provide a combined $262 increase over the next two years. The budget signed by the governor has raised the stipend to an all-time high while expanding it to part-time officers for the first time in state history.
In June 2022, Gov. Beshear announced the Military to Law Enforcement Program (M-2-LE), which 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 members 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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