BRISTOL, Ind. – Five new state troopers recently reported for duty to the Indiana State Police Toll Road Post in Bristol. The five troopers are from the class of 55 who just graduated from the 76th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy on October 20th.
While at the academy the recruits received 22 weeks of intense training. Their graduation was the culmination of more than 950 hours of training that included criminal law, emergency vehicle operations and traffic law. The academy training also covered other facets of law enforcement including criminal investigation, crash investigation, self-defense, and other general law enforcement related areas of instruction.
Andrew Baldwin, 25, is from Peru, Indiana. He graduated from Maconaquah High School in Bunker Hill. He attended Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice.
Cody Brown, 22, is a native of Bedford, Indiana. He graduated from Bedford-North Lawrence High School in 2012. Since graduation Brown has worked at Manchester Tank and Equipment as a welder.
Zarek Finley, 21, is a graduate of Lakeland Christian Academy and currently resides in Warsaw. Finley earned an Associate degree from Ancilla College and a Bachelor degree from Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana.
Kenneth Payonk, 22, is from Oak Forest, Illinois and a graduate of Carl Sandburg High School. Prior to attending the ISP academy Payonk attended Elmhurst College majoring in criminal justice.
Aaron Price, 32, is a graduate of Triton Junior-Senior High School in Bourbon, Indiana. Price most recently worked at Zimmer Biomet in Warsaw since 2006 as a Distribution Group Leader. Price has a brother, Jonathon Price, who is a trooper at the Bremen Post.
The new troopers will continue their training for the next three months as part of the ISP Field Training Program. The Field Training Program pairs new troopers with veteran troopers, or Field Training Officers. Upon successful completion of their field training, they will be issued their cars and be assigned solo patrol responsibilities.
