Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Waaaaaaaaah!

It's always fun to listen to shrieks and wails when oxes are gored and the Mississippi Highway Patrol is no exception when the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation decided to hire investigators who were, gasp, not troopers.  

MBI announced it is hiring investigators in a March posting.  Investigators almost always came from the ranks of the Mississippi Highway Patrol.  However,  Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindall had other ideas and opened up hiring to certified law enforcement officers who have 2-4 years of law enforcement experience.  Applicants do not have to be MHP Troopers. The positions would pay from $54,000-$65,000.  

Opening up the jobs to non-Troopers stirred up a hornet's nest on social media as the MHP retirees raised hell about the new policy.  How dare the Commish change things! Who does he think he is? Does he not know these jobs belong to the red-legs even if they aren't qualified for the jobs? The only thing missing were calls for crucifixion.  If this policy works, the Commish might find out that other areas at DPS might not need Troopers either,  heaven forbid.  Check out some of the comments: 

I am confused are these people troopers? You mean you can be an MBI agent and not go thru patrol school?????? I am totally confused

this makes no sense to me!! Troopers should come first! This is the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol!! This used to be something people worked for after you had been on the road!!

This is a perfect example of why the Governor shouldn’t appoint people lacking in institutional knowledge of the Department.The structural promotional system throughout the Mississippi Highway Patrol and more importantly the criminal investigation division has long been established. Beginning with renowned Colonial T B Birdsong in 1938 and continuing with pride and professionalism up until the present commissioner without any political interruptions. These eleven positions belong to us, the men a women of the MHP, who have given their sweat and blood in order to serve and protect the citizens of this great State. If any person has a desire to become a criminal investigator for DPS let them obtain proper training and certification just as other troopers had too and just like any other profession such as attorneys are required to do. I believe they are. If anyone knows different correct me.  Deputy Commissioner, Ron Ford, Lt Colonel (Retired)

AMEN colonel. Well said. The patrol is being dismantled as we watch.

Just another step to take power away from the highway patrol. I was a criminal investigator for five years and worked with some of the most highly trained people period. I don’t understand whose agenda this is.

I think it is beyond stupid. Just another power grab from the commissioner.

Guess the powers to be can appoint their Buds now!!!

Bad Move

Sadly we have current Troopers NOT on the 5th floor selling out MHP for their own personal gain to have power and rank. They are too drunk on self indulgence to realize when they get it, they will be over a clown show and not the organization MHP was.

MBI will eventually look just like MBN…it has been the unspoken goal since the first staff meeting I attended with the current commissioner, MHP Colonel, and MBI LTC where I provided objections to separating MBI away from MHP. I do not know a single agent that is not looking for a retirement job offer or a chance to get back to enforcement. This and my definition of poor leadership (textbook) made it perfectly clear for my retirement. I miss many of the officers and agents. Notice the minimum requirements of LEO Academy and 2-4 years experience. I remember when a trooper was not allowed to even be considered for a trooper investigator position (probationary) without 5 years of enforcement experience. That too has been slipping away for the last several years.

that’s exactly how I remember it!! Wgat happened to had to have 5 years of experience. This used to be a position tgat we all worked toward!!!!! But I would never have dreamed you could work for mbi and not go to patrol school!!!!! I am just blown away!!!!

Maybe we need to be bombarding the Commissioner and the Legislature with calls !

I agree 1000%. They’re a joke. Them, along with the Commissioner have killed our tradition and damn near killed the rest of it.

However, one person tried to provide a different point of view in several comments:

To my understanding, trooper investigator slots were opened and very few took advantage of it and I understand that several of the ones that applied failed an entrance exam and writing test.

i can’t say I’m in total disagreement with hiring outside of the sworn ranks. I spent 15 years working homicides across this state and worked with multiple agencies. A lot of the investigators I worked with are just as capable as seasoned MBI agents. When someone’s loved one is the victim of a violent crime, I believe the best and most qualified investigators should be working the case and in a lot of instances, our investigations didn’t live up to the standards. Plus, numerous troopers that have been promoted to agents are lazy and only want the promotion and not the work. I believe that the requirements to become an MBI agent should be strict and they should not settle for mediocre.

Also, I believe through attrition, MBI agents will not some from the sworn ranks. It will be a mirror image of GBI, TBI.

The comments show everything wrong with Troopers and DPS.  There is too much of the "if you ain't been to Trooper School, you ain't ____" attitude.  That is how you wind up with red-legged grantwriters and DMV staff or investigators who've never been to a crime scene.  

What the Commissioner did was open up investigator positions to experienced investigators from other law enforcement agencies - the same tactic used all the time in corporate America.  According to the retirees, a Trooper who rode the roads for a few years and made a few felony arrests, probably aggravated DUIs and drug cases at that, is more qualified than an experienced JPD investigators who has worked numerous homicides, aggravated assaults, and carjackings. Under retiree logic, an investigator such as Michael Huff or the late Eric Smith who knows what a crime scene is is not as qualified to be an MBI investigator as Mr. Click It or Ticket just because he did not go through Trooper School.  Yeah. 

In other words, an investigator who knows what a crime scene looks like is not as qualified to be an investigator as Mr. Click It or Ticket just because he did not go through Trooper school.  Yeah.  

DPS received 200 applications for the 11 positions.   85 will be tested and whittled down to smaller number of candidates who will interview.  Other states such use independent bureaus of investigation and those seem to work just fine.  However, don't try to confuse the retirees as traditions mean more than facts.

Kingfish note to local law enforcement officers: Isn't it nice knowing what your state troopers think of you?   

 

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

What? MHP "entitlement" is canceled? Oh my!

Anonymous said...

I always assumed the little short roid rage Troopers thought highly of themselves, so no shock here.

I also already knew that the rest of the state laughs at them.

They are too blinded by narcissism and conceit to care, so nothing changes.

Anonymous said...

Surviving trooper school used to mean you were one tough SOB who could follow procedures and perform as instructed. I'm unsure as to whether that is still the case. But, being on the road and being an investigator are two entirely different things.

These days, who knows what the best promotion policy would be? With the EEOC, quotas and Federal hiring policies we already see more and more problems.

I say if you want to be an investigator, learn how to be an investigator and apply. Regardless of whether you are a trooper or not.

Anonymous said...

KF so pro police he wants to pit them against each other.

Anonymous said...

Yesterday I couldn’t spell investigator, today I are one.

Anonymous said...

Love their patent leather accessories.

Anonymous said...

“Red Legs” reminds me of The Outlaw Josey Wales

Anonymous said...

MBI: What kinda of citation is this?
Regular Investigator: It’s a homicide

Anonymous said...

"These eleven positions belong to us, the men a women of the MHP, who have given their sweat and blood in order to serve and protect the citizens of this great State."

The kind of MHP troopers that harrass the public, sit in their air conditioned vehicles all day, and hand out speeding tickets. Those MHP Troopers?

Anonymous said...

#1: "These eleven positions belong to us, the men a [sic] women of the MHP..."

No, Mr. Ford they do not. They belong to the people of the State of Mississippi, including those of us who can spell two- and three-letter words.


#2: Why do retirees even care?

#3: We should be dismantling the MHP and the DPS for that matter. Too much abuse of the public and the system going on up there.

Anonymous said...

But but but


What if your at the crime scene and there's revenue needing to be rais...err...tickets needing to be written?



Anonymous said...

These retirees sound like the McKlaniel old flag wavers. Can't move in to the 21st century without these knuckle draggers slowing us all down. These dudes probably wear their favorite Nascar shirt or Red Man tank top with aviator sunglasses and have on creased starched boot cut blue jeans that the crease is white and frayed from old age. These goobers make me laugh. The MHP has so many great people in its ranks only to let these few idiots ruin the good name.

Yeah, you need to learn to drive a car at 115 mph to investigate a crime.

We have had a problem with not having enough Troopers on the highway, well this will help that cause. Good work Commissioner. That is smart leadership.

Anonymous said...

An argument could be made that the entire mission statement of DPS needs to change. For instance, let SOs run radar (with proper training) on highways and interstates, reduce the number of troopers on the road as a result, increase the size of MBI and give them intensive training (particularly in cyber crimes), with the reduced number of patrolman give them state police powers to be able to assist high crime cities, towns and counties (intrastate tasks force) and allow them to perform the accident reconstruction on highways and interstates.

Honestly, MBI should probably be a stand alone school, separate and apart from MHP school.

Anonymous said...

So really what the old guard is saying is “we didn’t get a chance to properly haze these investigators” which means they are less likely to automatically side with their “brothers”.

By the way, you shouldn’t have to go through pretend green beret training just to write speeding tickets or administer driving exams.

Anonymous said...

Wake up people! Look around. MHP and investigators are not immune to the worker shortage that’s happening nationwide. Older workers are hanging it up, young people don’t want to work and the ones that do don’t know their ass from their toes. Employers are desperate and doing all sorts of things in every industry to get bodies. Sign of the times. Blame Covid and BOTH Presidents.

Anonymous said...

Most states have been doing this for years. Georgia Bureau of Investigations, South Carolina (SLED), Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, etc. It is nothing new. Most troopers have never worked a crime scene, and a number of MBI investigators have not really been that good at what they do. I do feel bad for the non-MHP guys that will be filling these slots. They will be ostracized and treated like crap from those that can't see past their trooper hats (Excuse me, covers.) It will take a while for this to become the norm and for them to be accepted once people see that good investigators do indeed come from outside MHP.

Anonymous said...

I used to work at DPS and trooper school is a joke. Men left there thinking it was akin to combat training but all it was is hazing. The inspected you sock drawer to make sure you rolled them up properly and that your bed was made up to standard. Sure there was some trading but if you cut out all the bs it would only take a week. The thing is that these jobs are open to anyone that meets the criteria and applies so these complainers can apply but they won’t and just want to complain about it. I got my job there by applying and the person under me was chapped. Bitched all the time that they were passed over. A few months later I found out they didn’t even apply. That’s the mentality over there and they feel entitled. A few commissioners ago the legislature was going to require degrees and the whole place went crazy. Of course as the big wigs have cars and drivers supplied by DPS the bill never saw the light of the day.

Anonymous said...

But, but, the recruiter promised me that in five years I could become a secret agent in MBI, with a decoder ring and Walther PPK.

Anonymous said...

Its amuses me to know that many of the cry-baby troopers are the same ones that think they can bully and belittle others for being weak. They also have no empathy for others but demand we feel sorry for them now that the automatic feeder may be turned off?

Are THEY are so weak, that they know the only way they can make it to MBI is through seniority alone?

The big, strong men cannot compete on merit and want what is basically affirmative action for roid users. Because they are owed it?

The irony.

Anonymous said...

I have heard the commissioner is building the MHP from the ground up and retooling the agency. Some of these troopers were laying carpet and working in a furniture factory went straight to the MHP school. So many weeks of pushups and learning how to work a wreck then working traffic for a few years and then have the audacity to think they can work a homicide because they earned it? Sheriff offices and police department of any size will do as good or better job than the current MBI. The commissioner sees this and the public sees this. Good job commissioner. Clean the whole place up.

Anonymous said...

LE academies that use hazing are so 1950s, but the 'roid instructors get off on it.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a wise decision by the Commissioner also well on the way for a State police.

Anonymous said...

I'm 75 and have known a lot of retired (and a few current) Highway Patrolmen. All of them were and are fine men of honor and integrity.

I hope (but doubt) some of you can say the same thing in fifteen years.

I'm not sure which governor of Mississippi turned this agency into what it is today, but shame on him, whether he's dead or alive.

Anonymous said...

Tell me Mr. Trooper how great you are while my family members homicide investigation report from MBI is not long enough to form a paragraph. When I called to get information they gave me the information that I provided from my agency that I worked on. Then the trooper told me that the local DA denied a search warrant so I called the DA's office. They stated that the trooper had not made any such request and were willing to help. Several years later not one thing has been done. #worthless

Anonymous said...


Being an Older Male, MHP certainly isn't what it used to be back in the late '60's, '70's,'80's nor '90's. In my days MHP was respected, knew their public, knew the Kids etc, etc. That era may whip your butt so Daddy didn't find out but Juvenile Detention Centers hadn't been born yet. Today MHP wants to strut their stuff, act like a badass that only wants to incarcerate young people, write a Ticket & tell You how Important they are in the process. I respect Law Enforcement but the attitude of several MHP Officers is deplorable. Look at me, I got a Badge, a Ticket Book, a back seat & will Lock You up of some piddling things if You don't think I'm the baddest Guy out here. What happened to Serve & Protect along the way?

Anonymous said...

Troopers are a bunch of over rated pompous asses. All they do is work wrecks and write tickets. No REAL law enforcement experience for most of them throughout their career.

Anonymous said...

I've pulled up behind people on the interstate and helped them change a tire. Never have seen a trooper do that.

I've pulled cars out of a snowy ditch on hwy 49, Never have seen a trooper do that.

I've pulled off to the side to move a recap tire and a piece of lumber out of the roadway. Never have seen a trooper do that.

I've never seen a trooper assisting old people stopped on the shoulder of a road.

Why are they doing 85 at fifteen minutes to 12 noon?

Why are they doing 85, ANY TIME, without blues on?

You've all seen local LEO and highway workers, etc. off on a sideroad at noon eating their sandwich. Have you EVER seen a trooper doing that? Nope.

And giving County-Mounties radar authority will be 20 times worse!

Anonymous said...

1. Drug test the whole lot of them today, fire all of them that have anything illegal in their system.

2. Get roads to a posted speed limit that is realistic. Driving Rural Areas where it needs to be 15 MPH higher and they lazily pick someone off going with the flow of traffic.

3. Get rid of bad ones quicker. The crappy ones have ruined the organization.

4. Traffic tickets. State should stop sharing data with insurance companies. If you drive 50,000 miles a year, your 2 tickets over a couple of years should not weigh the same as someone who drives 2,000 miles a year. Your exposure is much higher.

5. Be honest with Troopers, They need to know they have become unrespected because the one only thought of as traffic enforcement, down south's meter maid equivalent. Low pay, known widely as steroid abusers who can't handle their emotions. Heaven forbid they got in a real shootout, they are not Rankin or Madison SO or Capital Police equivalents. I would hate to see one of those Strutting Roosters get in some real shit. They have the emotional maturity of a junior high prom queen.

6. Growning up, the troopers were men you respected, makes me sad.

Anonymous said...

3:09 might have worked at DPS but damn sure never went to the Academy.

Kingfish said...

I dunno, a trooper did help me once many moons ago when I ran out of gas on 49 in the Delta. Much appreciated.

There was one incident where a shootout occurred and the suspect was hit. Trooper stood his ground and did his job, doing it all, but the other trooper turned and ran.

Kingfish said...

as for your question of how it got this way today, well, it started under Haley, especially when Cruz was hired, Phil kept Cruz and it got worse. The man could barely add two and two. Just watch his performance at the budget hearing. He was a clown but certain powers that be wanted him in office. Then Fisher came, the few decent folks in command said screw it and left, and Fisher ran it into the ground as he does everything else.

Anonymous said...

is $54,000-$65,000 supposed to be a lot of money?

Anonymous said...

The inimitable Junior Brown years ago wrote the book on MHP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2un_jJMD4lI

But for the color of the car, Junior is just about spot on.

Anonymous said...

Guess I'm lucky. Got no beef with MHP. Always see them doing their job. If I'm in trouble on the road, its a welcomed site to see that trouper.

Anonymous said...

Didn't Fisher join Bryant and Songy's lobbying firm recently? Haha. Perfect fit.

Anonymous said...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the highway patrol just a part of the department of public safety and not the other way around? Seems to me that the commissioner has introduced real competition for those positions. And is it troubling to anyone else that troopers couldn't pass a writing test?

Anonymous said...

The MBI "investigator" that worked the case on John Gorman's death was a joke - his case report was riddled with speculation, opinion, conjecture, and confirmation bias. It was kick in the teeth to the family, and Peter Clinton disrespected John's memory by not doing a thorough and professional investigation of the circumstances that led to his death. That investigator was later fired for an improper campaign relationship with the DA who slow-rolled presenting John's case to the Grand Jury to hold the man who killed him accountable.

I worked with a few MBI guys on the JTTF, and they were generally pretty decent folks; but the majority are there because of political favors and nepotism (and everybody knows it).

The truth hurts MHP, you're just not up to the job; but, if you set your egos aside, you just might learn a thing or two from some seasoned investigators.

Anonymous said...

Whatever happened, speaking of MHP, to the trooper who was engaging in “sextortion” of truck drivers on I-55 somewhere around (I think it was) McComb and the state line?

Anonymous said...

Commissioner Tindell’s decision to open these positions to experienced officer and deputies was the best move. Writing tickets and working wrecks doesn’t give you any experience working crime scenes or non traffic criminal investigations.

I’ve been through MLEOTA, I’ve worked for the police dept and Sheriff’s office. I can tell you that you’re going from call to call. Disturbance to wreck, to Breaking and Entering, to shots fired, homicide, suicide, change a tire, to anything and everything. That’s everyday. Those are the ones that earned their uniform and make a lot less than a trooper.

Retirees have every right to be proud of their accomplishments and department. They also don’t understand and don’t like change. You don’t earn respect just because you went through trooper school or wear a uniform. It’s earned every day until you retire. Being honest and fair. Serving the public.

Believe it or not there are other divisions with in DPS and those officers are just as worthy, trained and knowledgeable. They deal with the same stress and dangers as a trooper. They also know how to stop cars with multiple people in them.

The sooner all these divisions and other departments learn to work together, the better it will be for the citizens of our state.

Anonymous said...

“You don’t earn respect just because you went through trooper school or wear a uniform.”

Trooper school should be renamed “The 8:28 pm School of Troopering” and the above quotation carved in stone above its entrance.

Anonymous said...

What the hell do retirees care anyway, sounds like a lot of people living in the past. Why can't you just enjoy the retirement we taxpayers provided for you!

Anonymous said...

But 8:28... I'm told MHP is the BEST OF THE BEST and therefor are allowed to thumb their nose at everyone else.

Anonymous said...

Can’t speak to all Troopers but dealt with one on Hwy 67 in Harrison County who was fit, professional and helped me tremendously. Have also seen a huge improvement in how the DMV or BMV is run. For those that take pride in their work, thank you! The lazy, roided up, narcissistic troopers give the good ones a bad name. It’s a shame they are too stupid to know they are part of the problem.


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