Two of Highway Patrol’s Fast Track Academy graduates will be stationed in Watertown

October 19, 2020

PIERRE, S.D. – The first nine recruits of the South Dakota Highway Patrol’s new Fast Track Academy graduate Friday at the state Capitol in Pierre.

The academy, held for the first time this year, is for those recruits who are already certified law enforcement officers. Because the fast track academy students already have the basic law enforcement training, their training period is several weeks shorter than the standard Highway Patrol academy.

Friday’s event starts at 1 p.m. inside the Capitol Rotunda. South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson is the keynote speaker. Friday’s ceremony is limited to immediate family only. The ceremony will be livestreamed on the Highway Patrol’s Facebook page.

Two of the recruits who make up the class will be based in Watertown. They are Chad Gamber and Evan Schoenefeld.