Police officers are always in high risk and dangerous situations. And in the past decade, we have lost more than 1,500 men and women in the line of duty.
It’s a job that can stir up a lot of controversies, but obviously very vital to our communities. WalletHub, recently announced that North Dakota ranked number 6 out of all 50 states as being a great place to be an officer.
I found out from our local police department why that is.
“I thought it was a good place to get my feet wet and start my career.”
Officer Garrett Stepp, was sworn into the Mandan Police Department less than a year ago. And says its something he’s always wanted to do
“My dad was a police officer for the city of Mandan just shy of 26 years. So growing up that’s all I kind of knew and just wanted to follow in his footsteps and get into the same profession.”
Stepp says he hasn’t regretted his decision at all.
“The people in North Dakota are some of the best people of any state and you know that transfers right into our job,” says Stepp.
Not only that but the Public Information Officer for Mandan says the biggest pro about being a cop in North Dakota is the strong relationships between the officers and community.
PIO Lori Flaten says, “We like to get out there and meet the community and talk to the community and they reciprocate. They come to our events, the come and talk to us, they come support us and it’s been fantastic.”
She even says just recently she saw just how strong that bond was.
“For example, when we had the last homicide we had people just show up here with food and drinks and things for us knowing that we weren’t going to go out and have a chance to do that. They just showed up and brought things and that was so fantastic and you don’t see that in all of the communities.”
Mandan tells me they recently offered full family health benefits which have also drawn more people in.
The Mandan Police Department is currently fully staffed which Flaten says hasn’t happened in a while. New York was ranked as the best state to be a police officer.
