SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Illinois State Police celebrated the graduation of Cadet Class 150 on Friday in Springfield, marking their largest graduating class in a quarter-century.

A graduation ceremony held at the Westside Christian Church in Springfield saw the addition of 95 new troopers to the State Police force. These fresh graduates will be assigned to the ten State Police Troop locations across the state on July 13.

Cadet Class 150 is the 22nd class to graduate under Governor J.B. Pritzker and State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly. Since 2019, a total of 692 troopers have been inducted into the Illinois State Police.

“I am proud to congratulate Cadet Class 150 on their graduation and commend them on their commitment to the people of Illinois,” Pritzker said. “As the largest class in 25 years, the brave men and women of Cadet Class 150 exemplify the core values of the Illinois State Police and will serve our state with honor, integrity, and pride.”

This year’s cadet class is a combination of a traditional class and a lateral entry class. Specifically, the traditional class included 43 cadets who completed a “demanding” 29-week program. The lateral class consisted of 52 cadets who completed the 12-week program designed for certified police officers who previously graduated from an accredited law enforcement academy and had at least two years of experience while employed as a full-time officer.

Both of these programs consist of physical and classroom instruction, which included, but was not limited to, training in the following:

• Cultural diversity
• Procedural justice
• Domestic violence
• Critical incident response
• De-escalation tactics
• Firearms
• First responder certification
• Control and arrest tactics
• Illinois vehicle code
• Criminal law
• Motor carrier safety
• Juvenile law

On top of either the 29-week or 12-week academy training, cadets are required to participate in one-on-one mentoring with Field Training Officers as part of a 14-week field training program, expanding their total training to either 25 or 42 weeks.

The troopers who successfully complete the field training program will advance to solo-patrol status.

“It’s a privilege to swear in the largest ISP cadet class in the past 25 years,” Kelly said. “Law enforcement agencies across the country can struggle to hire new officers, but we continue to rise above that challenge because of our values of Integrity, Service, and Pride to now commission the largest class so far in the 21st century.”

The new officers have been assigned to following areas of the state and will immediately start their patrol duties:

• Troop 1 Pecatonica/Sterling, two troopers
• Troop 2 LaSalle/Moline, four troopers
• Troop 3 Chicago, 25 troopers
• Troop 4 Macomb/Metamora, nine troopers
• Troop 5 Pontiac/Ashkum, two troopers
• Troop 6 Springfield/Pittsfield, one trooper
• Troop 7 Pesotum, six troopers
• Troop 8 Collinsville, 33 troopers
• Troop 9 Effingham/Carmi, 11 troopers
• Troop 10 DuQuoin/Ullin, two troopers

New troopers earn approximately $90,000 in compensation upon graduation from the Illinois State Police Academy. Anyone interested in joining the State Police ranks is urged to visit the State Police Merit Board website for application information.