Tanner Nielson

To give a little background on me, currently I am working as a State Trooper for Utah Highway Patrol. I am nearing my 18 month mark with the department. I was introduced to law enforcement in high school through a ride along with a family friend during his overtime DUI shift. At the time, he was working in a Major Crimes division with my local department. After the ride-along, I became interested in law enforcement and got recommended to apply to their VIPS program (Volunteers in Police Service) with the Heber City Police Department. This program allowed me to work closely with the officers at my local department. Throughout my volunteer work I got to experience and assist officers with traffic control on accidents, investigating their cases (such as retrieving equipment and observing their procedures), participating in ride-alongs, helping with search warrants, and "sitting along" with our dispatchers. After graduating high school I applied for and accepted a position as an Animal Control Officer (ACO) with Heber City. Being an ACO was never my passion, but it was a great opportunity to pay for my college education and get work experience in the meantime while working toward a law enforcement career. As an ACO, I would enforce animal related ordinances, educate and interact with the public, occasionally take over animal shelter responsibilities, patrol our county and various municipalities, and issue citations. This experience allowed me to pick up people skills, familiarize myself with the criminal justice system, and apply the criminal justice aspects of my job to my college education. As I neared my twenty-first birthday I applied for multiple law enforcement agencies and subsequently accepted my current position as a State Trooper. Utah Highway Patrol Sponsored me through the Peace Officer’s Standards and Testing (POST). I graduated POST in good standing. After POST, I received additional training in an “in-house” UHP academy where I received extra training (major accident investigations, DUI enforcement, defensive tactics, Pursuit Intervention Techniques such as the “PIT maneuver”, etc.). As a State Trooper I have gotten experience in impaired driving investigations, traffic stops, state law enforcement, emergency vehicle operations, collaboration with local sheriff and city agencies, and major crash investigations. As a State Trooper I’ve continued to study current case law and state law, enhance my communication/investigation skills, and continued with a mindset of learning as a new Trooper. I currently reside in Heber City. I am currently studying Criminal Justice online at Utah Valley University.