Law Enforcement Week: Desire to learn fuels Cape County deputy from Puerto Rico to Southeast Missouri

Marc Rivas had a goal to join some form of law enforcement office when he was younger, but familial pressures stayed his hand.

“When I was 19, 20 years old, I thought about it, but at the time my family didn’t agree with it so I didn’t do it,” he said.

In 2018, when he was 24, Rivas saw his ex-brother-in-law Cody McBride in his Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office uniform and decided that was the ideal outfit for him to join. A week later, he was accepted into the office and started working at the county jail. Rivas said he picked up on how to do the job quickly.

“I was hungry for knowledge. I wanted to train in everything I could and I wanted to know everything that I could about my job,” he said.

That thirst for knowledge and understanding has followed Rivas all his life, from the Caribbean Sea to the American heartland. Rivas moved to Cape Girardeau from Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, when he was 15 because he saw an opportunity to play baseball at a higher level. He participated in the sport while attending Notre Dame Regional High School.

“It was a big transition going from an all-Spanish school to an all-English school but I picked it up pretty quick … I started school, and I had to sink or swim,” he said.

Fortunately, though he couldn’t speak English fluently, he had visited the mainland United States to visit his father often enough that he understood English. A teacher at Notre Dame, Mary Ha, helped him learn more about the language.

“I try to do that to this day, to absorb as much knowledge as I can,” Rivas said. “I strive to learn more languages. I would love to learn sign language. It’s on my bucket list.”

The deputy described his bilingualism as a useful tool to have when it comes to his work, whether it’s working in the county jail or assisting local police departments on patrol.

“I’ve gone from working the jail to the road, then I went back up to the jail and back to the road, and it’s almost daily that I have to use some kind of Spanish,” he said.

Though he started out at the county jail and loved it, after seven months of working there, Rivas wanted to attend the Law Enforcement Academy at Southeast Missouri State University. He went there from July to December 2023, working 12-hour jail shifts on weekends to fit the academy into his schedule. After he graduated, he worked patrol duty until April 2021, when he switched back to jail duty and began teaching some of his fellow deputies the ropes.

“I like both jobs. I feel like you need good people in both jobs. At the time it felt like they needed my help more than the road needed me, so I went up there and did everything I could,” Rivas said.

Rivas rejoined road duty in June 2023. On June 10, 2024, he conducted his first field training officer evaluation on patrol.

“I actually have a constant inner battle between wanting to work for the jail and wanting to work for the road because I enjoy both equally,” he added. “If I’ve learned anything in this job, it’s that I cant put anything in stone.”

In addition to his regular duties, Rivas teaches trainees and new recruits as a firearms instructor at the law enforcement academy and as a self-defense instructor at the sheriff’s office. Later this year, he will start emergency vehicle operations course training, instructing students on what driving on patrol can be like in the sheriff’s office. He said he believes there’s always room for improvement in what he does, and he takes pride in learning all he can.

He has made several good friends at the sheriff’s office, set down roots, and now said it’s where he wants to spend the rest of his career, though the specific job description may vary.

“After this, who knows? Maybe detective will pique my interest. I’m open to do anything and everything,” Rivas said. “I want to learn everything about this job. I’ve been here for five years now and I don’t plan on going anywhere else.”