State police graduate 20 new troopers

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Twenty new state police troopers will graduate Friday morning from the Louisiana State Police Training Academy.

As part of the ceremony, the agency’s superintendent, Colonel Mike Edmonson, will make a special presentation to retired trooper Bobby Smith, who was shot in the face while on duty in 1986. The injury permanently blinded him.

Since leaving state police, Smith has written two books, founded an organization for officers recovering from traumas, and become a motivational speaker.

Edmonson will also honor Louisiana National Guardsman Danny Titus, brother of graduating cadet Matthew Titus. Edmonson will present Danny Titus with the American flag that flew over the Training Academy throughout the cadets’ training.

Titus was injured when a roadside bomb exploded while he was stationed in Iraq in 2004.

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