37 Graduate the Virginia State Police Academy

Media Release – Mar. 17, 2020

RICHMOND – The 37 members of the 131st Basic Session officially graduated Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in advance of their originally scheduled graduation date of Friday, March 20, 2020. In accordance with Governor Ralph Northam’s directives related to COVID‐19, traditional commencement exercises were canceled for Friday for the 36 new Troopers and one new Special Agent Accountant.

“This is the first time in decades that state police has had to postpone an Academy graduation ceremony,” said Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “However, this in no way diminishes the Department’s pride in or appreciation of these new Troopers and Special Agent Accountant joining our ranks. We look forward to bringing these men and women and their families to our campus at a later date in order to properly celebrate their accomplishments of completing the Virginia State Police Academy.”

Colonel Settle met with the graduates mid‐morning Tuesday for an official Uniform Inspection and to share a few final words with the class. The new Troopers and Special Agent Accountant then filed into the Academy and proceeded up the marble steps – which is an honor only afforded the trainees upon graduation. At the top of the steps, Colonel Settle and the Academy Staff officially congratulated the graduates. Colonel Settle presented each graduate with a Superintendent’s Challenge Coin.

“Since these graduates will not receive their official diploma until their graduation ceremony, each was presented a Challenge Coin,” said Colonel Settle. “They are the only State Police graduates to ever receive a coin from the Superintendent, which I hope they accept as a constant reminder of their oath to serve our Commonwealth with valor and pride, especially during such challenging times.”

The class has received more than 1,300 hours of classroom and field instruction in more than 100 different subjects, including defensive tactics, crime scene investigation, ethics and leadership, survival Spanish, police professionalism, firearms, judicial procedures, officer survival, cultural diversity and crisis management. The members of the 131st Basic Session began their 29 weeks of academic, physical and practical training at the Academy on Aug. 21, 2019.

The graduates of the 131st Basic Session are from every corner of the Commonwealth, as well as Florida, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina.

The new Troopers will report to their individual duty assignments across Virginia the week of March 23, 2020/ For their final phase of training, each Trooper will spend an additional six weeks paired up with a Field Training Officer learning his or her new patrol area. Special Agent Accountant Mills will report to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Appomattox Field Office to begin his final training phase.

131st BASIC GRADUATING CLASS

131st Basic Graduate	Hometown	Assignment
Ian Trent Abernathy	Chesapeake	Portsmouth/Suffolk/Chesapeake
Abdulrahman Mohamed Aboutabl	Harrisonburg	Augusta
Thomas Jefferson Acosta, Jr.	Jacksonville, FL	New Kent
Rafael J. Aguayo	Ridge, NY	Henrico
John Joseph Barrera, III	Williamsburg	Norfolk/Virginia Beach
William Hooker Bonnet, IV	Forest	Arlington
Anthony Joseph Bradt, Jr.	Bloomingburg, NY	Prince William
Shane Douglas Brooks	Chilhowie	Roanoke
Jacob Allen Burke	Radford	Arlington
Travis Todd Carr	Ivor	Isle of Wight
Adam Van Clampitt	Lynchburg	Campbell
Ridge Tamos Duncan	Burke	Prince William
Johnathan Dale Fish	Lynchburg	Chesterfield
Timothy Manning Fisher	Wake Forest, NC	Accomack
Sean Edward Glennan	Sewell, NJ	Henrico
Joshua Bryan Good	Luray	Shenandoah
Cody Edward Gray	Bland	Russell
Ricky Ray Hairston	Eden, NC	Campbell
Jordan Holt Hamlett	Naruna	Campbell
Joseph Holloman, III	Windsor	Brunswick
Nathan Allen Jennings	Dublin	Roanoke
Duane Hunter Knox	Troutdale	Roanoke
Jackson Stuart Peach Lowther	Gloucester	Frederick
Brooke Louise Martin	Mechanicsville	New Kent
John Hume Mills*	Gainesville	Appomattox
Paul Steven Perry	Gate City	Portsmouth/Suffolk/Chesapeake
Indiana Jacob Raccanello	Locust	Grove Culpeper
Jacob William Reaves	Chatham	Greene
Dru Imani Khianti Redden‐Robinson	Chantilly	Fairfax
Travon Lamont Smith	South Hill	Brunswick
Derek Emanuel Spencer	Abingdon	Botetourt
Nathan Andrew Stidham	Wise	Craig
Larry Darnell Tucker, Jr.	Hurt	Amherst
Benjamin Perfecto Villa, II	Palmyra	Augusta
Alexander Frederick	West	Frederick
Shawn Douglas Williams	Ewing	Nottoway
Holden Seth Young	Lebanon	Botetourt

*Special Agent Accountant