{"id":47015,"date":"2026-03-25T13:57:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=47015"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:57:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:57:56","slug":"maryland-natural-resources-police-celebrates-addition-of-16-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2026\/03\/25\/maryland-natural-resources-police-celebrates-addition-of-16-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Natural Resources Police Celebrates Addition of 16 Officers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The graduating class is NRP\u2019s first since November 2023<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Eight

Eight members of Maryland Natural Resource Police’s 67th Basic Recruiting Class gather at the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions in Sykesville prior to their graduation ceremony. (L-R, top row: Parker Martin,\u00a0 Ty Bean, Dalton Vann; bottom row: Justin Sherman, Maranda Graybill, Alexis Twigg, Elizabeth Rogers, Samantha Harris)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) celebrated the graduation of eight new officers from the agency\u2019s 67th Basic Recruit Class and formally welcomed eight additional members of the 66th lateral recruiting class who transferred from other law enforcement agencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Maryland Natural Resources Police Superintendent Colonel Orlando D. Lilly addressed the officers at their graduation ceremony at Immanuel Baptist Church in Baltimore on Tuesday, March 24.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese officers have dedicated themselves to preparing to serve Maryland\u2019s communities and natural resources,\u201d Col. Lilly said. \u201cAs noble representatives of our agency, NRP officers exemplify what it means to serve people with pride while conserving the public lands, waters, fish, and wildlife that we treasure. We are grateful for their commitment and sacrifice as they embark on their service to the state.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After remarks from distinguished guests and keynote speaker Dr. RaShall Brackney, officers took the oath of office and were presented with their badges by Col. Lilly.<\/span><\/p>\n

The recruits completed 39 weeks of training and coursework at the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions\u2019 facility in Sykesville.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In preparation for their work as Natural Resource Police officers, they learned Maryland conservation law, criminal procedure, vehicle and traffic laws, physical conditioning, firearms, wildlife identification, emergency vehicle operations, search and rescue, land navigation, and boating navigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new officers will be assigned to patrol districts across the state and complete their formal police training in the field under the supervision of experienced officers. NRP officers exercise statewide law enforcement authority, with full jurisdiction throughout Maryland including criminal, motor vehicle, and natural resources law.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new officers, along with their hometown, are:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Basic Recruit Class 67<\/b><\/p>\n

Officer Ty A. Bean \u2013 Fort Washington, Prince George\u2019s County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Maranda E. Graybill \u2013 Union Bridge, Carroll County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Samantha M. Harris \u2013 Pasadena, Anne Arundel County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Parker W. Martin \u2013 Centreville, Queen Anne\u2019s County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Elizabeth M. Rogers \u2013 Essex, Baltimore County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Justin M. Sherman \u2013 Reisterstown, Baltimore County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Alexis M. Twigg \u2013 Clearville, Bedford County (Pa.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Sidney D. Vann \u2013 Joppa, Harford County<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Eight

Eight members of Maryland Natural Resource Police’s 66th Lateral Class gather at the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions in Sykesville prior to their graduation ceremony. (L-R, back row: Ryan Walker, Bryant Simmons, Benjamin Click, Chad Schroyer; front row: Alison Ferris, James Koscielski III, Andrew Anderson, Mariah Dolan)<\/p><\/div>\n

Lateral Class 66<\/b><\/p>\n

Officer Andrew H. Anderson \u2013 Swanton, Garrett County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Benjamin L. Click \u2013 Cumberland, Allegany County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Mariah B. Dolan \u2013 Oldtown, Allegany County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Alison P. Ferris \u2013 Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer James A. Koscielski III \u2013 Dundalk, Baltimore County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Chad S. Schroyer \u2013 Chester, Queen Anne\u2019s County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Bryant D. Simmons \u2013 Fishing Creek, Dorchester County<\/span><\/p>\n

Officer Ryan R. Walker \u2013 Ocean City, Worcester County<\/span><\/p>\n

Tracing its roots to 1868, NRP is the oldest statewide police force in Maryland and one of the oldest state conservation law agencies in the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n

Photos from the ceremony can be found on the Maryland DNR Flickr page<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The graduating class is NRP\u2019s first since November 2023 The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) celebrated the graduation of eight new officers from the agency\u2019s 67th Basic Recruit Class and formally welcomed eight additional members of the 66th lateral recruiting class who transferred from other law enforcement agencies.\u00a0 Maryland Natural Resources Police Superintendent Colonel Orlando  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,14],"tags":[5681,4975,3843],"class_list":["post-47015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-nrp-news","tag-graduation","tag-maryland-natural-resources-police","tag-sykesville"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47015"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47026,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47015\/revisions\/47026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}