MISSOULA — The Montana Highway Patrol is actively recruiting new troopers, with around two dozen vacancies open to first-time candidates and those with prior law enforcement experience.
Trooper Nick Navarro, a 13-year MHP veteran, said the department is seeing a decline in interest in law enforcement careers but is not slowing its recruitment efforts.
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"We are noticing a little bit of a decline in the amount of people that are interested in this profession. That doesn't deter us from doing what we can to get out there and recruit people. We're always talking at colleges; we're talking at career fairs, and just word of mouth from our other troopers meeting people in their area that they think would be a good fit for this profession," Navarro said.
The department is looking for candidates with honor, integrity, and strong core values. Navarro said the ability to work independently is especially important.
"Because we do go out and work quite a bit basically unsupervised, working the highways," Navarro said.
Navarro said he knew from childhood that he wanted to be a trooper, motivated by a desire to give back to his community. As an adult, he said MHP was the clear choice.
"The Highway Patrol was something that I always wanted to do. No other agency really appealed to me right off the bat, and most of it is because of the type of work that we do. We go out... I mean my office changes every day depending on what roadway we want to work on," Navarro said.
He said educating drivers on safety and the rules of the road is also an important part of the job.
For those concerned about the dangers of the profession, Navarro said training and a strong support network help keep troopers safe.
"Everything that you do, you don't exceed your training ability, and then you always have other partners that are working with you that kind of help bring up that safety factor for you. So you're never really truly alone in this profession; you always have another city officer or a deputy that are close by that can listen in and respond if needed," Navarro said.
Those interested in starting the application process can visit dojmt.gov.
