On Sunday, Jan. 12, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) opened its first new conservation officer (CO) recruit school since 2007. A total of 31 CO candidates – boasting an array of backgrounds and life experiences – are attending the school.
Candidates range from a college senior to recruits who are in their early 40s and include nine law enforcement employees from other agencies, including the state police, sheriff’s departments, and small-town and urban police forces. Others have degrees in criminal justice. Six are military veterans; two have been conservation officers in other states – Kansas and Wisconsin; and two are employees with the DNR Parks and Recreation Division.
Still others are from entirely different disciplines, among them a food-processing employee of the Department of Corrections and a pizza restaurant manager – though both have extensive hunting, fishing and outdoor experience. Read more