State Police Welcome 138th Training Troop To The Job, 4 Assigned To Troop H

HARTFORD COUNTY, CT — The Connecticut State Police Thursday graduated 26 new state troopers, all members of the 138th Training Troop, and four have been assigned to Troop H.

Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Ronnell A. Higgins, and state police commander Col. Daniel Loughman congratulated the graduating class during a ceremony at Southern Connecticut State University.

Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz also attended and addressed the graduates.

The 138th Training Troop entered the Connecticut State Police Training Academy on Jan. 9, with classes starting in a blended learning format.

On Feb. 9, the class began the residential portion of the Academy, Monday through Friday, and completed the remaining 24 weeks of training.

In total, the class completed 28 weeks and more than 1,500 hours of training both online and in-person.

In addition to classwork, the recruits spent many hours on physical conditioning, driving, firearms, active shooter response, experiential training and other specialized areas of police work.

The 26 members of the class include 22 men and four women.

Members of the 138th Training Troop have diverse backgrounds, training and experience:

• One is a former municipal police officer
• Two are former corrections officers
• One is a former firefighter
• Two are former EMTs/paramedics
• Three are active or retired military

The youngest member of the class is 21 years old and the oldest is 41 years old.

Among the 26 graduates: three have military experience. one has prior law enforcement experience and 17 hold bachelor’s degrees. Five are multilingual — Spanish, Bosnian, Albanian, Greek, Haitian-Creole.

At their graduation Thursday, the newest Troopers were sworn in by Colonel Loughman and assigned to one of 11 State Police troops located throughout Connecticut.

Assigned to Troop H are:

• Yvonn Pierre (Manchester)
• Rory Leslie (Wethersfield)
• Uttdom Sowinkong (Wallingford)
• Nicholas Barbiuto (Cheshire)