Fully sixteen new State Police Troopers will join the ranks of sworn officers in the Michigan State Police 5th District of Michigan’s Great Southwest upon their graduation tomorrow afternoon in Lansing, with three of them destined for the Paw Paw Post, five headed to the Niles Post, and the balance headed to posts in Wayland and Marshall.
They are among the 101 new Troopers hitting the streets following completion of the 135th Trooper Recruit School in Lansing with formal graduation ceremonies tomorrow at 1pm at the Lansing Center in the state capital.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will deliver the keynote address and the new officers will be sworn in by Col. Joseph Gasper, Director of the Michigan State Police.
Following their graduation, the new Troopers will report to their assigned Michigan State Police Posts across the state’s eight districts. The 1st District in the Lansing-Brighton-Jackson-Monroe region will get 11 of the new officers…the 2nd District in Metro Detroit’s North region will get 5…the 3rd District in the Thumb area will get 10…our region gets 16…the 6th District encompassing Rockford-Hart-Mt. Pleasant and Lakeview will gain 15 new officers…and the 7th District in Cadillac-Houghton Lake-Gaylord-and Alpena with get 22 as will the Upper Peninsula’s eight posts.
Here are the new incoming State Police Troopers in Southwest Michigan being assigned to the 5th District:
- Conner Grosteffon from Battle Creek is assigned to Paw Paw
- Coty Hug from Paw Paw is assigned to his hometown post of Paw Paw
- Cody McCabe from St. Clair is assigned to Paw Paw
- Costas Christodoulides from Cassopolis is assigned to Niles
- Matthew Okaiye from Waterford is assigned to Niles
- Andrew Ruch from Tecumseh is assigned to Niles
- Kevin Sims Jr. from Detroit is assigned to Niles
- Alex Sussdorf from Three Rivers is assigned to Niles
- Jamison Burress from Hamilton is assigned to the Wayland Post
- Patrick Gaudard from Richland is assigned to Wayland
- Austin McKenzie from Flushing is assigned to Wayland
- Kaitlyn Bielecki from Mancelona is assigned to the Marshall Post
- Kleo Hinson from Clinton Township is assigned to Marshall
- Anna Humes from Ann Arbor is assigned to Marshall
- Jacob Owen from Jackson is assigned to Marshall
- Tracey Smith from Marshall is assigned to Marshall
Additionally, Fennville’s Daniel Hoffman is assigned to the 7th District Post at Alpena.
The 135th Trooper Recruit School began last fall as the prospective troopers reported to the Michigan State Police Training Academy in Lansing and spent the next 26 weeks receiving training in firearms, water safety, defensive tactics, patrol techniques, report writing, ethics, first aid, criminal law, crime scene processing and precision driving.
In order to be selected to attend the academy, all applicants had to pass a stringent selection process that included a physical fitness test, background investigation and hiring interview.
