MARTIN CO.- Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas G. Carter has announced the recipient of the 2022 Indiana State Police Trooper of the Year.
This honor is presented to the Trooper who inspires others to serve in a manner that significantly exceeds expectations. Performance includes outstanding levels of traffic and criminal enforcement, case and crash investigations, public information programs, and, most importantly, serving the communities within the State of Indiana.
The Trooper of the Year has exemplified strength of character, a strong work ethic, and an unsurpassed level of integrity that is the embodiment of being an Indiana State Trooper.
M/Trp. Lents graduated from Bedford North Lawrence High School in 1999. In May 2004, Lents graduated from Indiana State University with a BS in Criminology. In October 2004, Lents graduated from the 64th Indiana State Police Recruit class and was assigned to the Lafayette Post for two years before transferring to the Jasper District.
Currently, Master Trooper Lents is assigned a day shift in Martin County. Martin County is a very rural community with a small Law Enforcement presence. In 2022, Master Trooper Lents issued 1449 traffic warnings and 687 Uniform Traffic Tickets totaling 2136 traffic contacts and 5 Operating While Intoxicated arrests. Criminally, Master Trooper Lents arrested 76 defendants on 152 criminal charges, 35 of those being felonies. M/Trp. Lents was the lead officer on 54 criminal incident reports which were not all traffic stop related. M/Trp. Lents worked on multiple complex investigations using his experience as a prior Field Investigator to ensure that victims of crimes were effectively represented.
AWARDS:
- Jasper Post, Trooper of the District- 2009
- Jasper Post, Trooper of the District-2016
- Jasper Post, Trooper of the District-2022
- Combat Action Award-2013 & Purple Heart- 2013
**M/Trp. Lents was awarded the Combat Action Award & Purple Heart for his actions on June 17, 2013. M/Trp. Lents, at the time, a nine-year veteran of the Indiana State Police, responded to a robbery in progress at the Black Oak Armament gun shop in Montgomery. Trooper Lents exchanged gunfire with the robbery suspect despite being struck by gunfire multiple times. The robbery suspect was fatally wounded during the exchange.
M/Trp. Lents resides in Martin County with his wife Susan and family.
