Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Jared Miller is Marietta Post’s 2022 Trooper of the Year. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

MARIETTA — Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Jared Miller has been selected by his peers as 2022 Trooper of the Year at the Marietta Post.

Fellow officers at the post chose Miller based on leadership abilities, professional ethics, courteous treatment of others, enthusiastic work attitude, and cooperation with supervisors, peers and the public, according to Lt. Chris Chesar, post commander.

Miller, 24, joined the OSHP in 2019 and has served at the Marietta Post since then. He is originally from Beverly and is a graduate of Waterford High School and Washington State Community College. His past Highway Patrol awards include ones for physical fitness and criminal patrol.

Miller said the best thing about his job is all the interaction and conversation with different people. But it’s difficult for him to name one particular job challenge.

“There’s a lot,” he said after a moment’s thought. “It changes day to day, call to call. You have to be able to adjust.”

He said he didn’t know what Chesar had listed in the press release he sent out on Trooper of the Year. But he thinks others at the post may have chosen him for the honor because he can be flexible when he needs to be and because he comes to work with a positive attitude.

“Having a good attitude can sometimes help change somebody else’s attitude to be that way,” he said.

He is now in contention for the district and state Trooper of the Year awards, to be announced at a later date. In fact, he finished his district interview Wednesday afternoon. In that one, a captain and two staff lieutenants asked more elaborate, thought-provoking questions, he said.

“They want to see where your mind is at, see if you have leadership abilities,” he said.

Marietta is in District 7 along with Zanesville, St. Clairsville, Cambridge, New Philadelphia and Steubenville posts.

The Marietta Post covers 54 miles of Ohio 7, 16 miles of I-77, 24 miles of Ohio 339, 22 miles of Ohio 60, and lots more on other state roads. There are 10 troopers stationed there, along with three sergeants and Lt. Chesar.

Miller’s regular shift is 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., so he needed his “flexible” approach for the Wednesday district interview that finished up around 1 p.m. and he then just needed to get some sleep, he said.

Nancy Taylor can be reached at ntaylor@newsandsentinel.com