More than 50 new Michigan State Police troopers will graduate from the 140th Trooper Recruit School Thursday. Michigan State Police Sergeant Dwayne L. Gill tells WSJM News this comes as the MSP continues to fill positions being left vacant with retirements. The new recruits will now go through 12 weeks of field training.
“Once they graduate, they have successfully completed the Michigan State Police Recruit School,” Gill said. “They’ll be assigned to a post out anywhere in the state, all different places from the U.P. all the way down to Monroe, Michigan.”
Gill says the troopers get to choose where they’ll be assigned even before they start the academy. It’s just one perk the state police have implemented as the agency seeks to find new officers.
“Law enforcement applications are down all over everywhere nationwide. Individuals have bigger choices, much more choices of careers to go into than they had years ago.”
Gill says the recruit academy is a rigorous program in which trooper recruits learn all manner of law enforcement principles and techniques. He’s been using every tool he can think of to find new recruits. He says anyone who wants to make a difference should consider joining Michigan State Police.
