A detective sergeant from southwest Michigan is this year’s Michigan State Police Trooper of the Year. Ben Mahaffie received the honor on Wednesday for his work at the Paw Paw post. Post commander First Lieutenant Scott Ernstes tells us Mahaffie worked with the migrant community in the area.
“He developed a migrant outreach program for the migrant farmers in Van Buren County,” Ernstes said. “A lot of times, migrant workers that come up during the summers don’t have good interactions with police officers. He speaks Spanish, and he developed this program with our community service trooper, Trooper Conner Maybie.”
Maybie also received a community service award Wednesday. Ernstes says the migrant outreach program showed members of the migrant community Michigan State Police do take their issues seriously and will work to help them.
“A lot of times, some of the migrant community doesn’t feel like they have a voice in law enforcement. They don’t feel comfortable. So, it was very impactful for the Van Buren County area.”
Also at the Paw Paw post, state police say Mahaffie oversaw the field training officer program for five new troopers and excelled in the field with the number of complaints he took. Mahaffie has since moved to the Benton Harbor Major Case Unit. Ernstes says he’s proud two of his troopers have been honored.
