Law Enforcement Appreciation Week: A sandwich, a Coke and a career in law enforcement

Sgt. Brad Haggett's law enforcement journey did not have a Hollywood beginning.

It did not start with witnessing a terrible crime, and it wasn't a flashy television show, with staged explosions and high speed chases that first seduced Haggett with the glamor of law enforcement super heroes.

Haggett's path to the state Highway Patrol began, instead, with fresh sandwiches and ice cold Coca-Colas. It began as a young Haggett watched, wide-eyed, as glinting Patrol cruisers pulled into his parent's general store. Troopers were hungry.

"You'd call it a convenience store these days," Haggett explained. "Being in a rural area, there weren't many restaurants, so Troopers would stop in occasionally. I'd get them a sandwich and a Coke, and they'd have lunch."

Although Haggett may have been impressed by the men's physical fitness, pressed uniforms and sleek patrol cars, he said what impressed him most were the human beings behind the badges.

"It was the contact I had with them at lunch that inspired me. When I talked to them, I saw the professionalism that made me want to become a Trooper," Haggett explained.

Haggett went on to spend the first five years of his law enforcement career with Cape Girardeau Police Department, before moving on to the Patrol. He has been a Trooper for nearly 29 years.

Divided into units that blanket the state,

Haggett serves in Troop E, which covers the 13 counties of Southeast Missouri. It's an area Haggett also calls home.

Most of his career has been focused in the Poplar Bluff area. But whether by land, air or waterway, the mobility of the Highway Patrol can become a weakness, Haggett considered.

"If you look at the history of law enforcement over the ages, the profession changed as it became more mobile. Even things like patrol cars changed the job for police officers who walked a beat, knew everybody in a neighborhood and everybody knew them," Haggett explained.

In September of 2010, Haggett got a chance to address that challenge, after being transferred to general headquarters to serve full-time as a recruiter.

"That's what it says on paper, anyway. I still live and work in Southeast Missouri, as well as other parts of the state, but my primary focus now is recruiting new talent to the agency," he explained.

In 2018, through a departmental reorganization, Haggett found further opportunity to guard the prestige of his beloved "patrol."

"We, in the Highway Patrol, encourage Troopers to get involved in their communities: to coach ball teams and go to the community groups, stop by coffee shops, chat with farmers. We encourage Troopers to get involved, because they aren't just working in a community, they are also a part of that community," he said.

It is precisely by engaging with underserved communities that Haggett is able to present a positive impression of law enforcement during a historically difficult time for the profession.

"We do a lot of events in schools, churches, anywhere we can get in front of the people and talk to them about our agency," Haggett said. "Then we find ways to help them out, as well."

Community outreach and maintaining a professional image is not the end of Haggett's mission. The maintenance of those impressions is only a first step. Haggett and the office he represents want community members to join their ranks.

Because one cannot always depend on bonding over Cokes and sandwiches, Highway Patrol began a "Youth Academy Program" in 2016. At absolutely no cost, the privately funded summer camp is open to anyone 16 to 18 years of age.

"Well, think of it as summer camp and boot camp, all rolled into one," Haggett clarified. "Patrol personnel are the camp instructors. It's job-related, so we demonstrate what we do as an agency. But then, we also put on shorts and T-shirts and teach [the campers] how to fish, how to swim and we play ball with them. We do this because a lot of our youth come from under-served communities."

For underserved youths, who have had "virtually had no contact with the police," Haggett said he wishes to send a very simple message: "We're just like you. We just happen to put on different clothes when we go to work."

According to Haggett, there "isn't necessarily" a specific type of person he is looking for.

"What we look for is somebody that has good communication skills and common sense. Everything else you need to know about being a Trooper, we can teach you. The main thing is, you have to have a passion to serve your community," he said. "With the Patrol, a lot of our work is proactive. Our main focus is to promote safety upon the highways. But what a lot of people don't understand is that we are essentially a state police agency, so we also handle many kinds of investigation, everything from white collar crime to cybercrime."

Troopers fly helicopters, train K-9 units, handle gaming licenses and protect the governor.

"We are undercover in casinos. We are patrolling waterways. We are involved in about 60 different job classifications. There's a lot of diversity in career paths with the patrol. You have the type of choice that might otherwise be limited at a local agency," Haggett said.