Eleven New Wyoming Highway Patrol Troopers to Hit the Roads Later this Month

The path to becoming a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper requires dedication and commitment and can take nearly a year of preparation and training. In a report from WYDOT, Public Affairs person Doug McGee tells us about the latest group of recruits to complete the journey.

“Eleven new Wyoming Highway Patrol Troopers will be hitting the roads later this month, the culmination of a process started nearly a year ago.”

Just before Memorial Day, the Cadets of Academy Class 106 were given their badges and duty assignments in a commissioning ceremony.

Fewer than 10% of applicants make it through the screening processes to train at the Patrol Academy.

"We are very selective as to who joins the ranks of the Wyoming Highway Patrol because we need the right people doing the right things for the right reasons," said Sgt. Harley Kalb, the Academy Coordinator for Wyoming Highway Patrol.

In the academy, cadets receive extensive classroom and practical training to prepare them for field work, including a new approach to de-escalation.

Wyoming Highway Patrol Academy class 106 is the first academy class to participate in ICAT training, which is Integrating Communications, Assessment and Tactics. It’s really important that the troopers know how to deescalate situations so that way they have the safest outcome for everyone.

To complete their training, the new troopers will now spend a minimum of 50 shifts riding with a field training officer.

The field training officers are vetted, trained, and they are expected to hold that Trooper to a very high standard during the FTO process. We make sure that their FTO process is very rigorous because State Troopers work alone.

Recruitment and training are an ongoing process for patrol, which typically runs two academy classes each year.