ISP named finalist in Best Cruiser contest

SANDPOINT — Idaho State Police is a finalist in the American Association of State Troopers’ annual Best Cruiser contest.

Trooper Kirk Matilla submitted a photo of his patrol vehicle, a Dodge Charger, on Schweitzer Mountain with Lake Pend Oreille in the background.

Idaho State Police placed tenth in the contest. Kentucky State Police, the Georgia State Patrol and North Carolina State Patrol won the top three spots, respectively.

“ISP troopers across our state take pride in their patrol cars, which are essentially their ‘offices.’ It means several things to have been selected as one of the best-looking cars in the nation by garnering more than 8,000 votes,” ISP spokesman Tim Marsano said in a statement.

The 13 finalists — which also includes state police vehicles from Michigan, Texas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida — will be featured in an AAST calendars, which are slated to go on sale in September (statetroopers.org).

Net proceeds of the calendar sales will benefit the American Association of State Troopers Foundation, which provides educational scholarships to dependents of AAST members.

The contest received over 250,000 likes on Facebook and reached over 1 million people.

“We want prospective troopers to know that they, too, could serve their fellow Idahoans in an ‘office’ just like the one in the photo.

“We’re currently recruiting men and women who have high moral standards and want to serve,” Marsano said.

More information can be found on that process at isp.idaho.gov/hr/index.html

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.