LSP graduates 51 new troopers

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - As the 51 new State Police troopers walked across that stage, each of them has their own reason as to why they wanted to serve the community.

“I grew up as the daughter of two service members, and I grew up with those ideals of service, sacrifice, of duty. And I knew just as an adult, that was what I was going to do. And when State Police was hiring, I wanted to be the best,” said Trooper Eileen Eichenhauer, a member of the State Police Cadet Class 100.

People like Trooper Eichenhauer say it’s a privilege to put on that State Police uniform and badge.

”It was a privilege to go through this process, every second of these 23 weeks, even the hardest, darkest moments, it was a privilege to even be there. And now to stand on that stage, to wear that badge, and to be released out into the state to serve my community, a privilege,” said Eichenhauer.

She’s one of the many women part of Cadet Class 100, the most they’ve had in recent history we’re told.

So just to see a little girl saying, ‘Hey that’s a lady trooper.’ They don’t get to see that often, so I think that representation goes a long way,” said Trooper Kierra Reed, a member of State Police Cadet Class 100.

This new diverse class comes as the State Police brass is facing a shortage of troopers on the street, but finding the right officers who can last through the training is sometimes difficult.

“As we well know, sometimes we face some very difficult circumstances. We want to make sure we provide our cadets and our troopers with the best training possible so that they can perform optimally, and everybody can go home safely,” said Colonel Lamar Davis, Superintendent of Louisiana State Police.

Anytime you go through an environment like this, it’s not designed to change who you are. It’s designed to bring out the best in you that’s already there, and make it better,” said Cory Himel, a member of State Police Cadet Class 100.

Colonel Davis says their main goal is to find people who want to provide service to everyone. And he thinks he’s found that in this cadet class.

”I’m here, I’m ready to serve. I can’t wait. Thank you for this privilege,” said Eichenhauer.

Having successfully completed their training, the 51 new troopers will be deployed across the state. They will participate in a 10 to 14-week field training program while being supervised by a veteran trooper.

Training for the next cadet class of Louisiana State Police should tentatively begin this Summer.

LSP said the training academy started on Dec. 5, 2021, with 64 cadets and lasted 23 weeks.

Troopers said the cadets learned crash investigation, emergency vehicle operations, impaired driving detection, traffic incident management, defensive tactics, fair and impartial policing, ethics in law enforcement, and more that included a rigorous physical training regimen.

The following is a list of graduates and their Troop assignments:

Troop A – Baton Rouge

• Eileen Eichenauer
• Richard Garon
• Isaiah Gilbert
• Jacob Juge
• Kierra Reed
• Lucas Reiners
• Rock Schexnaydre
• Donald Stokes
• Darrious Williams

Troop B – Kenner

• John Gremillion
• Cory Himel
• Danielle Nicholas
• Ethan Nicosia
• Thien Trung
• David Webster
• Brandon Woodburn

Troop C – Gray

• Daniel Berrincha
• Simon Braud
• David Damico
• Tyler Evans
• Vicente Paz
• Tyler Werner

Troop D – Lake Charles

• Artellus Bellard
• Roland Castille
• Roy Jones
• Derek Whitman

Troop E – Alexandria

• Shannon Constantine
• Bronson Dauzat
• Charles Dranguet
• Brooke Francis
• Tristen Nicholas

Troop F – Monroe

• Nathan Anderson
• Peyton Craft
• Shane Vocker

Troop G – Bossier City

• LeAnn Hodges
• Clemmie Porter
• Sheppard Stutts
• Cade Talbert

Troop I – Lafayette

• Quinnton Anderson
• David Baudoin
• Brodrick Griffin
• David Larson
• Cadie Manale
• Alan-Michael Nelson
• Zachary Thomas

Troop L – Mandeville

• Alquonto Carradine
• Joshua Dennis
• Marc Gremillion
• Travis Knott
• Ernesto Medrano
• Natalie Romano

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