October 01, 2024
Whenever and wherever duty beckons, the Michigan State Police responds swiftly and effectively to calls for service.
With over 1,800 enlisted members, the full-service police force embraces opportunities to mobilize and support local first responder agencies by staging scores of troopers where assistance is needed. This approach allows the agency to continue to advance and capitalize on its policing practices and public safety services.
Consequently, the services offered by the MSP aren’t always limited to the Great Lakes State, as the name suggests.
Responding to requests that extend beyond the state’s border, the department “uniquely” secures scenes, manages swelling crowds descending on sports, political and community events, and dispatches emergency teams to respond to natural disasters as part of an agreement available in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“In addition to the sheer number of personnel to pull from, our enlisted members have undergone the same training, we possess the same equipment and we provide a force multiplier, and that’s what makes us unique,” said Spl/Lt. Kim Vetter, an MSP public information officer.
Vetter, for the second year in a row, served as a platoon commander during the annual Mackinac Bridge Walk, a five-mile commemorative trek across the bridge on Labor Day.
Nearly 30,000 people attended the 2024 annual Mackinac Bridge Walk, a five-mile commemorative trek across the bridge on Labor Day.
For 66 years, the event has drawn thousands to the “Mighty Mac” voyage, which begins in either St. Ignace in the Upper Peninsula or Mackinaw City in the Lower Peninsula. This year, the walk drew about 30,000 people from across the nation, according to the Mackinac Bridge Authority.
In addition to a large contingent of troopers, the MSP also mobilizes explosive-detecting canine teams, bomb squad technicians, emergency support team members, marine patrol, aviation and tactical bike officers to help with traffic and crowd management measures to “ensure the bridge is secure and participants are supported and safe,” Vetter said.
MSP Public Information Officer Spl/Lt. Derrick Carroll said the bridge walk is the only in-state deployment where every specialty unit is mobilized, describing the event as an “all-hands-on-deck" collaboration.
“Just the cooperative effort of everyone working with local first responders, you build these relationships where you get to know people and form comradery with other agencies,” Carroll said.
The MSP joined the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a national mutual aid partnership agreement, in 2002. Since then, it has streamlined the deployment of civilian and enlisted personnel nationwide for law enforcement assistance, search and rescue missions, and flood response operations.
The MSP has sent troopers to support law enforcement missions during Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana in 2005, Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey in 2012, the Republican National Convention in Ohio in 2016 and most recently, this year’s Republican National Convention in Wisconsin.
Thirty-five uniformed personnel, lined outside the MSP Headquarters on July 13, 2024, were deployed to assist with security and crowd management at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
All states and U.S. territories can request and receive assistance from other entities through EMAC. Costs associated with deploying resources under EMAC are reimbursed to assisting agencies.
“Although each deployment’s tasks are different, our flexibility to fill several roles in a unified capacity makes us uniquely qualified to execute these missions,” Vetter said.
In July, the MSP deployed 35 uniformed personnel to assist with security and crowd management at the 2024 Republican National Convention following an EMAC request from the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This was the second time enlisted members had aided the RNC after 154 troopers were deployed to Cleveland in 2016.
The city of Chicago, Illinois, which hosted the 2024 Democratic National Convention, did not make an EMAC request for law enforcement assistance.
MSP First District Tpr. Franklin Carpenter was among the contingents mobilized for both RNC deployments. This year, he and other troopers monitored fence lines along a bridge on one of several secured vehicle routes near the convention center.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling to help and work side by side with other agencies from all over the country at an event,” Carpenter said. “But the biggest thing for me is meeting and engaging with people from vastly different backgrounds than your own.”
MSP First District Tpr. Franklin Carpenter, left, and MSP First District Sgt. Peter Smith assists with security and crowd management at an MSU football game in East Lansing, Mich., Sept. 14, 2024.
The MSP is also called upon to aid in security and crowd management during professional and college sporting events across the state. Carpenter, who has worked alongside troopers and local officers at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, said those events are opportunities to connect with people beyond legal run-ins with the police.
“Most of the time, we deal with people when they’re at their worst,” he said. “But when you interact with people outside of an enforcement capacity, you learn how to communicate, understand and empathize with everybody, which is huge in this job. It makes you more equipped to serve everyone.”
Meanwhile, MSP members tout the range of preparedness and the skills to stand up teams of troopers to pivot wherever needed without hesitation as a trait of adaptation, despite the destination.
