Arkansas CLEST Director Chris Chapmond Named Keynote Speaker for BRTC LETA Graduation

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Black River Technical College’s (BRTC) Law Enforcement Training Academy (LETA) Director Jared Bassham is pleased to announce the keynote speaker for the Spring 2024-A LETA graduation will be Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training (CLEST) Director Chris Chapmond.

Chapmond was named Director of CLEST in January of 2023, but he began his long tenure as a law enforcement officer in 1996 at the Hot Springs Police Department. Director Chapmond now has 26 years of law enforcement experience that includes a range of leadership roles in field operations, patrol, Drug Task Force, and SWAT (Special Weapons and Response Team).

As CLEST Director, Chapmond’s goal is to improve and grow professional law enforcement training and uphold the law enforcement profession to the highest standards.

Chapmond earned a bachelor’s degree in Police Administration from Columbia Southern University and is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Public Safety – Command Staff School, which is a master’s level program and considered one of the premier police executive classes in the field. Chapmond has completed the FBI Leadership Command College and is an Executive Board member and President of the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police, a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and an executive board member of the Ouachita United Way and an executive board member of CASA – Garland County. He is a member of the Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club and various other civic organizations.

Chapmond has three sons, one daughter-in-law, and two grandsons.

The BRTC LETA Spring 2024-A graduation will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 4 at the Randolph County Development Center on the BRTC Pocahontas campus. Graduation is open to the public and will be streamed live on LETA’s Facebook page.

For more information about the BRTC Law Enforcement Training Academy, contact Director Jared Bassham at (870) 248-4190 or email jared.bassham@blackrivertech.edu.