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MSP Alpena Post welcomes new troopers

Trooper William Garbutt

ALPENA — The Michigan State Police Alpena Post welcomed two new troopers in the past several weeks.

Trooper Matthew Topp of Gaylord and Trooper William Garbutt of Ladyville, Belize, are two of the 41 who graduated in December from the 131st Trooper Recruit School.

Garbutt, 31, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who said he wanted to become involved in law enforcement from a young age after he worked to protect his sister from a child predator when she was 13. Garbutt said he was 14 at the time.

“(The police in Belize) said they couldn’t do anything for her because they wanted her to come in and make a statement,” he said. “I feel like they didn’t show much empathy for the situation and that made me feel like I could go out there and do something because they didn’t put much effort into it.”

Garbutt, who came to the U.S. in 2009, went to high school in Belize and attended Alpena Community College. He took the MSP entry level exam in 2015 and submitted his application to the force and was accepted to the school. He was happy to be working in Alpena.

“It’s a great feeling completing the academy,” he said. “A lot of people apply and didn’t make it. For me it’s a great feeling; words can’t even explain how great I feel.”

Topp, 27, is following the footsteps of his father, retired Lt./Det. Robert Topp of Grayling who worked in the MSP’s crime lab.

He grew up in Gaylord and went to community college in Petoskey at North Central Community College as an undecided student. He later transfered, he said, to Northern Michigan University to study criminal justice.

He received his degree in that field in 2013 and began working for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and worked as a park ranger at a few different state parks.

“I wanted to do law enforcement and I got a little taste of it being a park ranger and I thought that I wanted to work for the best law enforcement agency in the state,” he said.

Topp said his father’s involvement with MSP was a contributing factor as he wanted to be like his father.

“It was a pretty surreal experience becoming a trooper and following in my dad’s footsteps,” he said.

Many new recruits do not get to pick where they will be posted. Topp said he was happy to be close to Gaylord and in northern Michigan.

“I am extremely grateful,” he said. “Alpena is a great place to work and I have heard a lot of great things about it.”

Jason Ogden can be reached via email at jogden@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693. Follow Jason on Twitter @jo_alpenanews. Read his blog, Sunny side up, with Jason at www.thealpenanews.com.

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