OWENSBORO, Ky. (WFIE) – The Owensboro Police Department helped bring in a new wave of officers from the department’s own police academy on Friday.

Friends, family and fellow police officers gathered to celebrate the dedication and commitment of the newest members of the Owensboro Police Department.

After months of rigorous training, nine recruits were officially sworn into the Owensboro Police Department as officers.

Although these men are now official members of law enforcement, they will forever be the first graduates of the inaugural class of the OPD Basic Training Academy.

“It’s a huge accomplishment,” said OPD Lt. Courtney Yerington. “It took many years of work to create an academy here in Owensboro and to get them to complete their training and prepare to go out on patrol with the PTO is an incredible accomplishment.”

This graduation ceremony marked the beginning of a new era for the Owensboro Police Department, as Lt. Yerington highlighted the importance of this new academy and the progress the agency has made in recruiting , starting at the national level.

The recruits get to go home every night,” Lt. Yerington said. “It allows them to have that support system with them every night when they go home.” On top of that, although the Criminal Justice Training Department has an incredible training program, most of what we teach is similar to theirs, but we are now able to teach them our policies and procedures right from the beginning.

Recruits said that while it took a lot of dedication and commitment, they wanted to set the standard for future classes.

“It’s astonishing. I said in my speech that we set the standard and it’s something we fight for every day,” said Joseph Keown, OPD Basic Training Academy. “To make sure we were the best and to make sure that the classes that followed would have something to look up to and a goal to strive for to maintain the standards of the Owensboro Police Academy.”

Keown was drafted into the Army before joining law enforcement. He says being able to serve his country was an honor, but coming back and protecting his hometown was his true calling.

“It’s been a challenging 23 weeks of training and programming,” Keown said. “We are all excited to continue our training and be able to work with the community. This almost sounds like what I’m supposed to do. I have already served the country, now I can serve the community that raised me to be who I am today.

Lt. Yerington says the next OPD Basic Training Academy course is expected to begin in early 2025.

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