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Michigan State Police marking 100 years of outstanding service

The Michigan State Police was established 100 years ago, and while many things have changed over the last century, some others have not.

Troopers don’t ride around on horses much anymore, having swapped out the four-legged animal as the primary option long ago for much faster and more advanced means of transportation.

Over the years, their uniforms have changed, both in style and in color, along with their weaponry, post locations and tactics — even their name, having first been called the Michigan Constabulary has been altered.

But one thing which certainly has remained the same since day one is that troopers are committed to serving the public.

Each and every day, our boys — and girls — in blue strap on their uniforms and, along with other law enforcement personnel, get in their vehicles to patrol the roads, investigate crimes and complaints and generally maintain law and order in our communities so that we can all feel safer going to sleep at night.

Last week, The Mining Journal released a package of stories along with a special section commemorating the state police’s 100-year anniversary. We found the story behind the agency’s evolution interesting, and hope our readers did too.

Police work is no easy business, and echoing a comment made in one of those recent stories by Michigan State Police Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, it take a special person to be a trooper, or any law enforcement officer for that matter.

The world is a changing place, and criminal behavior is rapidly changing as well. Law enforcement tactics and technologies that are used must follow suit, or whenver possible be ahead of the curve.

“With computer crimes and just computers in everybody’s hands today, … I mean people are giving the elementary school children computers, and that’s a good thing, but that can be a very dangerous thing as well,” Etue said. “So we have to constantly be having upgrades in our technology, so we can meet the needs of some of the cyber crime that’s happening all over the world.”

Another challenge in our day and age is public perspective of law enforcement. Police have been carefully scrutinized lately, mostly for shootings involving civilians, and Etue said the general mood toward police is one of the major challenges her agency faces.

“However, I will say we have worked very hard to build that trust within the communities we serve, and we take that role very seriously,” she said. “I get frustrated sometimes looking at the negative (media) reports and I’m thinking, ‘But when are we (going to) start reporting all the lives that are saved?’ Law enforcement stays up 24/7 to protect and defend. But that’s something we’ve learned, is we have to continue to build trust with the citizens we serve. That’s something we can never take lightly.”

While locally we may not face some of the same issues as larger urban areas, our police personnel play a critical role in our communities, and we thank them for their service.

We again must echo Etue’s remarks and say that we are inspired by the young recruits working their way into the ranks of the Michigan State Police.

“They’re young, and they’re really committed. They’re very focused. They want to do a profession that, you know, we run into buildings into danger, when everyone’s running out of the building away from danger,” Etue said. “So you’ve got to be a special person to even raise your hand and say, ‘You know, I think I want to be a state trooper.'”

We couldn’t agree more, and we look forward to seeing the agency’s evolution over the next century and for many years after that.

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