KLETC graduates 361st class, sends new officers into Kansas communities

Officers from the 361st training class stand outside the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in uniform.

Members of the 361st Training Class graduated Aug. 21 from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center. Photo credit: Jeff Tuttle

Fri, 08/21/2026

George Taylor

HUTCHINSON — Students from the 361st Basic Training Class took the stage Aug. 21 in Integrity Hall and graduated from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center.

*Associate Director Jeff Ostlund, Jake Montgomery and Vice Provost and Director of Police Training Darin Beck.*

The class took the oath and is now ready to serve the Kansas law enforcement agencies and communities they represent.

Training Administrator Josh Long introduced the class, and Associate Director Jeff Ostlund spoke to the graduates about leadership. Ostlund compared two styles of leadership — the cowboy, who drives through fear, and the Bedouin shepherd, who leads by walking alongside the flock.

“I hope you stink like a sheep,” Ostlund told the graduating class, “because you’ve walked with them, you’ve meandered with them, they trust you, and they’ll come to you when they’re in need.”

Class President Officer Jake Montgomery of the Fort Hays State University Police Department echoed that message as he reflected on the relationships the class members built during their time at KLETC.

“This journey with you has been just awesome,” Montgomery said. “It’s been an honor to get to know and work with each and every single one of you. I know you all are going to make your friends, families, agencies and communities extremely proud.”

Montgomery closed by congratulating his classmates as they began the next chapter of their law enforcement careers.

“Class 361, congratulations!”

The Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, a division of the University of Kansas since 1968, serves as the state’s central training agency for law enforcement officers.

Under the authority of Darin Beck, vice provost and director of police training, graduates received certificates attesting to the satisfactory completion of a full-time basic course of instruction and certification as Kansas law enforcement officers from the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, the state’s law enforcement licensing authority.