{"id":270688,"date":"2026-08-23T12:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T12:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/270688\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T12:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T12:54:07","slug":"47-new-troopers-welcomed-to-pennsylvania-state-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/270688\/","title":{"rendered":"47 New Troopers Welcomed to Pennsylvania State Police"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/pennwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mail-9-scaled.jpeg\" data-caption=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"464\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mail-9-696x464.jpeg\"   alt=\"\" title=\"mail\"\/><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Lieutenant\u00a0Colonel George Bivens, Acting Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP),\u00a0welcomed 47 new troopers during a graduation ceremony at LCBC Manheim. The 176th\u00a0Cadet Class completed approximately 27 weeks of rigorous training at the PSP Academy to earn the rank of trooper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor nearly six months, this dedicated group of women and men demonstrated remarkable strength, leadership, courage, discipline, resilience, and commitment to complete the rigors of the Academy and earn the rank of trooper,\u201d said\u00a0Lieutenant Colonel Bivens.\u00a0\u201cI am beyond proud to welcome these brave individuals to our PSP family, and I have the utmost confidence in their ability to successfully serve, protect, and uphold the law across the Commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 176th\u00a0Cadet Class is the sixth class to complete the PSP Academy without a college credit requirement for the position of trooper.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com\/ls\/click?upn=u001.EpE68xvdiHi-2F3uU9U1WHuayqGaOHD9iI419gUJftZrWc5zvmhNhzB2zqmBnXyNFW2D31-2B3ZBRnjmfibED7hTCf549gnMFEChtlRt8mZDtvmEZl1FpnsHEvrLmXMRWM746770CnRWgNge5jBYSRO40rVpYo-2FtAaWRZHPVWrfJpUfeTgCg-2BdT4ln2HRM8cOKqpK5M8t8RVzP8jIoqeva-2BB5NuaOSMmOHLKoSt8mhpPE71p4COh0fFrnrwDodtKD3xhhtYz9RRn7nD09Flg4r77Moq4YqsZSMH7pfnCDqkqCSpM0UU-2FNRaLXR5cv7i7kHgdTPVdKeJwNjGrhBZ19KKNIQ-3D-3DuGPm_akXAv2WTnqeQnEsF3tq-2BxplvmcSOU7QtlyE5CK0mFben4ZWDHx-2B90AuSBSyYP1VW3euxaaks8ydWw-2FydHRXd1dQQNj0aI-2BudKaRrRpCAbDJdNsC9UriD4nE83giS-2BhrWWRi-2B7uKTmssN-2Fa6qdLTmSFtwVx7Whhe0llmp7dH77AEFPPc4gLbCS1Atvw3RXlzUIbj7GQiHt5ZFx59vDy-2FOuztZE4mcZD-2FompSsLJXqhkVlp1ahktkKLSgDjp1hfk-2BxPTWULr5qSEW9UobxEPZKQ47YyOxHKg62II9rDgcWkYxsrI5Og2JJQLdfnLE81YW2OYLsVaqjWtQhJOOxJ69h2ul3h1QjRNLfnUP-2FW0ZNc-2Fk2Kyp1idLquKEmTeB2YMK0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">The Shapiro-Davis Administration eliminated the college requirement<\/a>\u00a0for applicants in August of 2023. As a result, the PSP saw a 69% increase in applicants in 2025 compared to 2022, when the college credit requirement was still in place.<\/p>\n<p>During the ceremony, five cadets received special awards and recognition:<\/p>\n<p>Levi J. Wallace:\u00a0American Legion Award for all-around academic, physical, ethical, and moral qualifications; Daniel F. Dunn High Scholastic Award for the highest level of academic achievement in the class.Gunnar H. Frankenfield:\u00a0Gesford High Pistol Award for the highest score on the department\u2019s pistol qualification course.Tyler Elsdon:\u00a0Colonel Ronald M. Sharpe Leadership Award for exemplifying the qualities of leadership.Brandon W. Knapp:\u00a0John K. Schafer Memorial Award for the highest combined score on a series of physical skills tests.Briar W. Kentzel:\u00a0Colonel Paul J. Chylak Memorial Driver Proficiency Award for the highest proficiency in driver safety training.<a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pennwatchmedia.com\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"PW_2024_LeaderAd\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/PW_2024_LeaderAd.png\" alt=\"\"   width=\"728\" height=\"90\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lieutenant\u00a0Colonel George Bivens, Acting Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP),\u00a0welcomed 47 new troopers during a graduation ceremony&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-270688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}