46 new Michigan State Police troopers are being assigned to posts throughout the state with their graduation Friday from the 143rd Trooper Recruit School. Among the troopers are four coming to southwest Michigan. Brad Baughman of New Buffalo has been assigned to the Paw Paw post, along with Justin McIntyre of Portage and Jeremy Smith of Lawton. Assigned to the Niles post is Kade Erwin of Niles. Governor Gretchen Whitmer was the guest speaker at Friday’s graduation, while MSP Director Joe Gasper administered the Oath of Office to the new troopers. The school began on January 22 with 63 prospects. Over the next several months, they were trained in patrol techniques, report writing, ethics, cultural diversity and implicit bias, decision making, leadership, first aid, criminal law, crime scene processing, firearms, water safety, defensive tactics, and precision driving. The next recruit school, the 144th, will begin on July 9 at the MSP Training Academy in Lansing.
