LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Last Thursday, 59 Michigan state troopers graduated from the 142nd Trooper Recruit School and took the Oath of Office. Already, they are showing up in Michigan cities all over the state including three troopers who are now assigned to the Monroe Post, two at the Alpena post and one at the
Cadillac post.

School for these troopers started at the end of June with 85 prospective troopers at the MSP Training Academy in Lansing. They received training in leadership, decision making, patrol techniques, report writing, ethics, cultural diversity and implicit bias, first aid, crime scene processing, criminal law, water safety, firearms, defensive tactics and precision driving.

MORE NEWS: Oxford High School Shooter Moved to New Unit

Col. Joe Gasper, director of the MSP, said, “We welcome our 59 newest troopers with the confidence that they will continue our tradition of service. The standard we subscribe to as members of the Michigan State Police is to treat all those you encounter with dignity and respect, always. These newest troopers represent not only the future of the MSP, but the future of policing, and I’m confident the work they will do day-in and day-out will help to raise the standards of our industry.”

With the new recruits, Michigan will now have about 1,192 troopers who are assigned statewide and a total of 1,888 enlisted members in the MSP.

Shiloh LaButte, a member of the 142nd Trooper Recruit School graduating class, grew up in a home of service. Her mom was an EMT who started a search-and-rescue team in the Upper Peninsula community of Garden and she also raced to New York City after the 9/11 attacks to help find victims.

And now, LaButte wants to serve by example just like her mother. She will be doing that at the Manistique post.

Lance Rader, another graduate, grew up in Bolivia where his parents are missionaries. His dad runs youth retreats and Christian camps and that’s where Rader and his five brothers and sisters learned the value of paying forward. Rader said, “I’ve always had the desire to help people.”

There’s also a pair of brothers who graduated from the trooper school – Brandon and Bailey Bowers. They will serve alongside two older brothers and a cousin who are also in the MSP. They come from a military family and their mom was a nurse. They were raised to put public service first. Bailey says the family joined the MSP because of “their values, their reputation, the way they serve the community.”

MORE NEWS: MSU Pro-Palestine Encampment Closes Its Camp on Saturday, Vows to Keep Protesting

According to Monroe News, Troopers Hill, Kalnbach and Mangrum have been assigned to the Monroe post. When they arrive, they’ll complete the Field Training Officer program with a senior trooper for the next five months before going on solo patrols.

WBKB-TV 11 reports that two of the newly graduated troopers will be at the Alpena post. Troopers Logun Carlson and Brett Immel showed up bright and early on Monday to start their new jobs.

Carlson said, “I’ve always wanted to help people. People don’t call police when they’re having a good day, they call when they’re having a bad day, and being able to be there and help people on their worst days is all I wanted to do.”

Carlson, who is from Petoskey, is second generation MSP, following in the footsteps of his dad, Rick. Carlson says, “He was absolutely my full influence, watching him growing up helping people. Whenever people needed anything, they would always call him and that always inspired me.” Carlson is excited to be able to serve the northern Michigan community. He said, “It’s absolutely huge. Northern Michigan is such a close knit community, and knowing people are out there to have our backs.”

The Manistee News reports that Justin Shields of Dyer, Indiana is headed to the Cadillac post to start his new job this week. That post covers Manistee and Benzie county as well as as new other neighboring counties as well.

The MSP is actively recruiting people for future trooper recruit schools because of the hundreds of vacancies continued attrition. The next recruit school is January 2023.