Victor Montes of Gloucester, is one of 45 new Virginia State Police Troopers who received their diplomas during commencement exercises held on Friday at the State Police Training Academy in Chesterfield County. Montes has been assigned to his first duty assignment—Gloucester, Mathews and Middlesex counties. For this final phase of training, he will spend an additional six weeks paired up with a Field Training Officer learning his new patrol area. Montes and the other new troopers received more than 1,300 hours of classroom and field instruction in more than 100 different subjects, including de-escalation techniques, strategies to assist people in mental health crisis, ethics and leadership, fair and impartial policing, constitutional law, emergency medical trauma care, and public and community relations. The trooper trainees of the 145th Basic Session began their 29 weeks of academic, physical, and practical training at the State Police Training Academy on Jan. 26, 2026. The graduates ...