BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Many parents hope their children will follow in their footsteps. On Friday, October 26, Tiah Larvadain, 23, made history by graduating as a Louisiana State Police trooper by following in her mother’s footsteps.
“For the first time in our 82-year history, we have a daughter who has followed in her mother’s footsteps,” said LSP Col. Kevin Reeves.
That daughter also happened to be the only woman out of 48 cadets graduating the academy.
Beginning today, 48 new Troopers will begin serving the citizens of #Louisiana. After months of training, the men & women of Cadet Class 98 became fully commissioned #Troopers this morning. We look forward to serving alongside each of you! Congratulations!https://t.co/F2bWK50Z0r pic.twitter.com/6yoAg9g53I
— LA State Police (@LAStatePolice) October 26, 2018
“This is certainly a proud moment for your family, as well as the state police family,” said Reeves.
Tiah’s mother, Lt. Treone Larvadain, has been with LSP since 2006 and is currently working in internal affairs. She’s also worked as security for Governor John Bel Edwards, who although he could not make it to Friday’s graduation, had something special for Tiah.
“Together, they are making history is the only mother-daughter state police troopers in Louisiana,” said Reeves, reading from a letter from Edwards. “Which is why I have signed an official certificate of recognition in honor of this achievement.”
With that, they began the ceremony, awarding diplomas and commissions to the 48 cadets. The graduating troopers began training in May, starting with 59 in their group, but only 48 made it through.
Standing backstage was Tiah’s mother handing her something pretty important. “I wasn’t expecting her to hand me the commission card, but I almost feel like she was wishing my career good luck,” said Tiah.
“I am proud. I’m very humbled. I’m very thankful that I had my only child choose to follow in my footsteps. That lets me know I have done my job as a parent,” said Lt. Larvadain.
Tiah says growing up, she’s watched her mother put on a uniform and make a difference. “Seeing the impact that they had on the people, how they would help the people, how they would respond to people, how people respond to her, I just knew I wanted to have the same effect on people the same way,” said Tiah.
“To be honest with you, it was a little emotional for me. I haven’t had my son walk across the stage and be able to shake his hand when he became a trooper and to see the look in her eyes and the look in her mother’s eyes of such pride, I had a little bit of a feeling of what they were going through, but it was really special moment,” said Reeves.
It was also a special moment for all the family and friends of the rest of the cadets, including 3-year-old Gunnar, who wanted to dress like his daddy to support him on graduation day.
“It was a big accomplishment. It’s been a long time coming and I can’t believe it’s finally here,” said graduating trooper, Nicholas Dowdle.
“State police was a goal from the start eight years ago,” said graduating trooper, Glenn Sanders. “It’s a great accomplishment knowing that many desire it.”
As for Tiah, she says it’s an honor to be in the same uniform as her mother, but if that’s not enough... “She’s also going to have my unit number, my old unit number,” said Lt. Larvadain.
All 48 cadets' family and friends wished the future of the LSP the best of luck as they begin a new chapter.
The cadets completed their 22-week journey through the LSP Training Academy. The now troopers received training in various subjects, such as crash investigation, emergency vehicle operations, impaired driving detection, traffic incident management, and leadership.
The new troopers will deploy across the state, and participate in a 10 to 14-week field training program.
The Louisiana State Police Commission is currently accepting applications. For more information on cadet testing, visit the Louisiana State Police Commission website at http://laspc.dps.louisiana.gov/laspc.nsf.
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