URBANA – The University of Illinois Police Department is welcoming three new police officers who took their oaths of office Thursday.

The new officers all have previous law enforcement experience and will be in the department’s field training program immediately, meaning community members may see them out and about right away.

Officer Ty Ledbetter comes to the University of Illinois Police Department after 11 years with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office where he was most recently a K-9 deputy. Ledbetter also worked part-time as an Arthur Police officer.

Officer Drew Osterholt will be familiar with campus policing after working at the Parkland College Police Department for three years. Prior to Parkland College, Osterholt was a Piatt County Sheriff’s Office telecommunicator, and he also spent some time working at the Champaign County Youth Detention Center.

Like Osterholt, Officer Dylan Short will be familiar to a campus environment after spending three years at the Eastern Illinois University Police Department. Short also worked part time as a Sullivan Police officer, and he serves as a staff sergeant with the Illinois Army National Guard. Short graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale where, as a student, he served as a member of the Saluki Patrol.

UIPD will have an additional two new officers attending a 12-week course at the Police Training Institute beginning this month.