Delta State celebrates Cleveland officer graduating from law enforcement academy

Corderrius T. Stevenson, who joined Delta State University Police in 2024, graduated from Mississippi Highway Patrol Cadet Class 70 on June 6 and is now serving as a patrolman with Troop D in the Greenville area. Delta State also marked the graduation of Marcelo Rojas of Cleveland from the Mississippi Delta Community College Law Enforcement Training Academy, Class 26-B83, on June 26.

The department cast both milestones as part of the same law-enforcement pipeline that begins in the Mississippi Delta and extends into state service. Stevenson’s move from campus police to the Highway Patrol shows how Delta State can train officers who later step into a broader public-safety role, while Rojas’s completion of academy training adds a Cleveland name to the department’s own ranks. Delta State described Rojas as its youngest officer and said he has already shown a strong commitment to public safety and professional excellence.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety says the Highway Patrol’s Training Division runs cadet schools that prepare accepted applicants to become state troopers. The agency says the Mississippi Highway Patrol is organized into nine enforcement troops across the state and has more than 1,000 sworn and non-sworn employees supporting public safety. Stevenson’s assignment to Troop D places him back in the Greenville area, where local ties and day-to-day enforcement responsibilities overlap.

At Delta State, Chief Michael Peeler said the success of Stevenson and Rojas reflects the caliber of people who wear the Delta State badge. The police department says its job is to provide and maintain a safe and secure environment for students, staff, faculty, residents and visitors, and older department information says it includes sworn officers, communications officers and administrative support staff.

That mission has practical consequences on campus and beyond. When a Delta State officer advances into state service, the university is not simply noting a promotion, it is showing that its police operation can produce trained personnel for larger agencies across the region. When a Cleveland officer completes academy training and joins the department, the campus gains another local law-enforcement connection rooted in the same community it serves.

Delta State has also said it will host additional law-enforcement training, including crisis intervention training and FBI CJIS sessions, reinforcing its role as a regional public-safety partner as well as a campus police department.