A Lower Burrell man was presented with the Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship during the graduation ceremony Friday for the largest Allegheny County Police Training Academy cadet class in at least seven years.

Colton Moorhead, 22, one of 32 graduating cadets, learned about winning the scholarship shortly before Friday’s ceremony at the academy in North Park after he completed six months of police training.

The Shaw scholarship was founded shortly after Shaw, a Lower Burrell resident and New Kensington police officer, was gunned down in the line of duty in 2017. Shaw’s family and friends raise money annually for the scholarship by organizing one of the largest motorcycle rides in Western Pennsylvania.

“In 2015, Cadet Brian Shaw sat here with the same excitement and enthusiasm,” said Terry McClain, president of the Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship fund committee, during Friday’s ceremony. “During his short tenure, he left a lasting impression. He had a passion for service and his community.”

Five scholarships were awarded during Friday’s graduation. Tuition at the Allegheny County Police Training Academy is $5,000, with an additional $1,000 for supplies and equipment. It’s a six-month course to satisfy state Act 120, which requires training for municipal and state police officers.

Demand for fully trained police officers has been growing, said Robert Cifrulak, deputy director of the academy.

Police officers are in demand, and proper training is becoming more important, he said.

“We have teachers, fighter pilots, people from the military who are training,” Cifrulak said.

There’s diversity in the racial and gender backgrounds as well.

Also new are nongovernment employers of police. Allegheny Health Network and Carnegie Mellon University are sponsoring their security personnel for official police training, Cifrulak said.

“More police training is necessary these days because police business has become much more complicated with communications and other issues,” he said.

Scholarship money is vital to many of the cadets who can’t secure traditional school loans, Cifrulak said. For the Shaw scholarship, cadets are judged on an essay about how they share Shaw’s values as a police officer: humility, integrity, dedication and compassion.

“It was a surprise to win the scholarship and such an honor,” Moorhead said after the ceremony. “Brian Shaw is a hometown hero. I never met him personally but heard a lot about him. I hope to do half of what he did.”

Moorhead said becoming a police officer was natural for him as many members of his family, including his father, worked in law enforcement.

He is the eighth winner of the Shaw scholarship, which is given out twice a year. Some past winners work as police officers at the Northern Regional Police Department and Frazer Township Police Department, where Moorhead will start as a part-time officer Monday.

Rosemarie Moorhead said she was overwhelmed by her son winning the scholarship.

“What an honor,” she said.

Said father Marty Moorhead, a retired state trooper: “I’m very proud of my son, and I want to say thank you to everyone who supports the Brian Shaw scholarship.”

The sixth annual Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship motorcycle ride is set for Aug. 19.

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