Brighton Resident Chases State Trooper Dream

Brighton resident Erica Somers says she knew she wanted to be a police officer since she was 12. Now, she is striving to make that dream come true.

“I always liked helping people, so becoming a police officer seemed like a good fit,” Somers said.

Somers, 29, is one of 38 recruits that have been accepted into the Michigan State Police Trooper Training Program, held at the Michigan State Trooper Training Academy in Lansing. The training program is residential, with recruits living on-site Monday through Friday.

For 20 weeks, beginning Dec. 26 and ending May 9, recruits wake up at 5 a.m. to begin a long day chock-full of physical and mental challenges. Somers says that sometimes the physical challenges are the hardest part for her.

“I consider myself to be pretty fit, but PT is very challenging,” Somers said.

PT, or physical training, usually consists of intense running and other exercises, such as push-ups and pull-ups, and other various arm and leg exercises. This exercise regimen may sound not sound like such a far-cry from a high school gym class, but actually the precision that is required by the recruits makes all the difference.

Each  class begins with recruits executing a routine composed of a series of deliberate movements that are to be performed with pinpoint accuracy. If one recruit missteps or fails to follow directions, the entire squad is punished with pull-ups and running exercises until the group gets the routine right. When the routine is executed accurately, the hands-on training begins.

This type of non-stop, chaotic exercise pushes recruits and forces them to learn how to act under stress, said Recruit School Commander Sergeant Kevin Rod.

During their 20-week program, recruits receive training in firearms, water safety and rescue, defensive tactics, criminal law, patrol techniques, precision driving and crime scene processing, said Rod.

In the next couple weeks, recruits will be taken to a nearby pond where they will be trained in ice and water rescue procedures. Recruits also receive instruction on-site at the academy's water training facility where they are taught how to rescue victims from a submerged car, with the help of a mock-vehicle that is lowered into the pool via crane.

Rod said that this is the first class to be held at the academy since 2008 due to a lack of state funding.

“We ended up getting a federal grant this year that allowed us to train this class of recruits,” Rod said.

To enter the training program, Rod said applicants must pass a slew of written and physical tests, as well as undergo a set of interviews and extensive background checks. The only requirements to apply to the program is that applicants must be 21 years old and hold a GED, though he said a college degree can help with some of the written exams and other academics recruits encounter.

Somers has a bit of an edge in that regard, having received her bachelor's degree in psychology and criminal justice. She is currently working on her master's degree in mental health counseling through the online Walden University.

Somers, who worked for a little less than a year as an officer with the Redford Township police department, said she wanted to become a state trooper for the variety of work opportunities it offers. She hopes one day to be able to go undercover as a narcotics agent, or possibly even join the water rescue diving team.

“It's still a little early for me to know exactly what I want to do, but I have a little while to decide. I do want to be a lieutenant someday,” Somers said.

Now in the fourth week of the program, the road is still long and hard for Somers, but she said that she's not doing it alone.

“My family has been a huge support system, and have never discouraged me from being a police officer because of the dangers that they face,” Somers said. She says that she usually comes home to Brighton on the weekends to spend time with family and her partner, who is a police officer in Livonia.

“I come home and I try to make up for the time that I'm spending away at the academy,” Somers said.