Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Residents of Amherst, Campbell, Halifax and Prince Edward counties and the city of Staunton were among the 40 new Virginia State Police (VSP) troopers who officially graduated Friday, Aug. 6. During the 134th Basic Session, trainees’ 27-week tenure at the VSP Academy, they received instruction in more than 100 different subjects spanning hundreds of hours. Academy training includes such areas as crime scene investigation, survival Spanish, judicial procedures, self-defense, cultural diversity and firearms.

Trooper Andrew P. Jordan, 22, is a resident of Nathalie in Halifax County and is a senior airman in the Virginia Air National Guard. He will be patrolling Buckingham County as his first duty area.

Farmville and Prince Edward County resident, Trooper Jessie L. Green, 24, will begin her VSP career in Chesterfield County.

Trooper Jonathan P. Mills, 24, of the town of Farmville in Prince Edward County is no stranger to VSP as he worked as a dispatcher for four years and his father is a Sergeant with VSP. Trooper Mills served in the United States Marine Corps and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Liberty University. His first VSP patrol assignment will be in Hanover and Henrico counties.

These new troopers will report to their individual duty assignments the week of August 16. 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.