The Fort Wayne Police Department celebrated the graduation of the 70th FWPD Recruit Class from the Fort Wayne Police Academy on Thursday evening.
Fort Wayne Police Department news release:
FWPD Academy Graduates 70th Recruit Class
Fort Wayne, Indiana (July 17, 2026) — The Fort Wayne Police Department celebrated the graduation of the 70th Recruit Class from the Fort Wayne Police Academy on Thursday evening.
The graduating class consisted of 22 recruits, including 21 Fort Wayne Police Department recruits and one Fort Wayne Fire Department arson investigator. The class included three women and 19 men. Graduates came from a variety of backgrounds, including one Hispanic recruit and one Burmese recruit. The recruit who traveled the farthest to join the Fort Wayne Police Department came from Youngstown, Ohio.
The recruits completed 23 weeks of intensive training and received nearly 1,000 hours of instruction. This significantly exceeds Indiana’s state-mandated requirement of 600 training hours for new law enforcement officers.
Academy instruction covered a wide range of topics, including Indiana law, firearms, defensive tactics, emergency vehicle operations, cultural diversity, de-escalation, mental health response, ethics, communication and other skills necessary to serve the Fort Wayne community safely and professionally.
The graduates will now begin the next phase of their training, applying what they learned at the academy while working alongside experienced personnel in the field.
The Fort Wayne Police Department congratulates the members of the 70th Recruit Class on completing this demanding program and welcomes them as they begin their careers in public safety.
Related Images:
