State police hire new Bloomington troopers

Last week the Bloomington District of the Indiana State Police added two new troopers to its force.

After graduating from the ISP Recruit Academy on March 16, Probationary Troopers Ryan Belcher and Dustin Mathews were assigned to the Bloomington District.

“I’m excited,” Mathews said. “I’m really excited to work with Monroe County and get to know as many people as I can and be a positive role model in my position.”

In October, the two men started the 24-week training regiment at the academy, where they received instruction in criminal law, emergency vehicle operations, traffic law, criminal investigation, crash investigation, self-defense and first response.

Mathews, who studied criminal justice at Northern Kentucky University, is from Versailles, Ind. Belcher, who studied conservation law enforcement at Vincennes University, is from Greencastle, Ind.

Mathews and Belcher have begun a 15-week field training program that consists of close observation from a supervisor while patrolling and learning the ropes. Once they complete this training, they will receive their police cars and start patrolling on their own.

“Everybody at the post has been welcoming to us. Everybody there has been friendly and accepted us with open arms,” Belcher said. “Everybody’s been wiling to teach us and give us a little bit of their knowledge and what their experience has been.”

IDS What did you do leading up to this?
RYAN MATHEWS I worked for the U.S. Secret Service for about three years during college and then started applying to all kinds of police departments. And that’s pretty much where I am now.
DUSTIN BELCHER I joined the Army in 2006 after high school. Then I went to college and studied conservation law enforcement at VU. After that I got a job with the Morgan County Police Department until I got hired on with the state police force. And now I’m here.

IDS Why did you decide to take this route?
MATHEWS I have honestly been wanting to do it for a long time. A big reason was the fact that I could stay in Indiana. I applied to 20 to 25 different departments — Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and even on the federal level — but I liked the idea of staying in Indiana.
BELCHER Well the Army, I always wanted to do it, I like doing it and I have a passion for it, but it’s not what I want to do for my career or for my whole life. I’ve always wanted to be a police officer, so I guess I wanted to go for the best department around. They pride themselves, and they have traditions similar to the military. It was a smooth transition, and it keeps what I like and what I’m used to.

IDS What is one law enforcement issue you are passionate about?
MATHEWS I am pretty passionate about drunk driving. My family knows some people who have been killed in drunk driving accidents. I think one of my goals would be to reduce the number of fatalities from drunk driving because there’s a lot of lives that could be saved there.
BELCHER Drug enforcement. I worked in a jail for three years, and I saw a lot of people strung out on all kinds of drugs. It really messes people up. The more drugs you can get off the streets, the more it’s going to help people out. It’s going to get people off the streets.

IDS What’s the most challenging thing about the training you are going through right now?
MATHEWS The training now is more hands on. I think the hardest part was going through the academy. There were a lot of stressful moments we had. Being sprayed with the pepper spray was really tough for me, and that led up to everything we are doing now. We are putting together everything we learned in the academy and putting it to use in the real world now.
BELCHER The most difficult I would say is the anticipation. It’s pretty slow paced right now. You get out of the academy and you want to jump into it, and you have to take a step back and make sure you are doing things the right way and leaning the right way.

IDS How can you apply what you learned in the Army to your job now?
BELCHER A lot of the discipline in the Army, in the military, really helped me through the academy. The state police, they are a paramilitary organization, so my experience in the Army really helped me transition to the state police.

IDS What will your role be on the force?
MATHEWS I will be a trooper. Once we get done with the field training process, we get our cars in July. And basically we’ll have our supervisors still, but we’ll be on our own — anything from enforcing traffic laws to responding to criminal calls.

IDS What are your career goals?
MATHEWS I eventually would like to be a part of the canine unit . . . I like dogs, and I think that dogs are an excellent source for traffic related stops or if you are searching for a missing person. I think they are one of our best tools that we could have.
BELCHER Further down in my career, I’d like to get into drug enforcement. I would like to eventually get a canine if that option is available. Basically I’d like to get my feet wet and try anything and everything I can.