(Havre) – The Montana Highway Patrol is recruiting several entry-level and lateral-level troopers through November 2nd. New Media Broadcasters sat down with Montana State Patrol public information and special operations officer Sgt. Jay Nelson to talk about the open positions.
“Well, we just started opening our recruiting cycle for the Montana Highway Patrol for troopers both entry level troopers as well as lateral positions. So, what lateral would mean is if your certified as a law enforcement officer else where we can get you hired or if you have no experience, we can get you hired, and that recruitment cycle is open as of today and goes through November 2nd.”
He continued by talking about how MHP is short staffed.
“We are, you know, it’s something that law enforcement across our nation. I don’t know of any agency I’ve talked to from one end of the country to the next that doesn’t have a problem hiring people. In today’s world there’s a lack of officers that are out there and so were no different than other agencies and do have quite a few positions that are open.”
He continued by talking about how hard it is to recruit new officers.
“Well, I think really our climate today as far as law enforcement, you know, is something that although a very noble job, a very satisfying job, not a lot of people want to face what we face out there. Be it the increase in crime, just the general what our nation is going through and I think it’s a very important job but it’s not always for everyone. We try to get the best people in the positions that we have, and we have to have independent people that are self-motivated and might be out in the state of Montana by themselves so often times that takes a very special person.”
He finished by talking about how people can help without becoming an officer.
“We do have a lot of civilian positions, I know were getting ready to open up a position for one of our radio techs, so somebody that has some technology skills. The department of justice has a recruiting position they have a couple of recruiters that really looks at all the different positions in the department of justice. So I encourage them to look on our web site dojmp.gov this will bring you right to it, that’s where you can get all your application materials but that’s where also you can get in touch with some of our recruiters that give you other positions and programs that are out there that you can help with.”
