News Photo by Reagan Voetberg First Lieutenant Anthony Utt, commander of the Michigan State Police Alpena Post, sits at his desk in his office.

ALPENA — On Dec. 22, First Lieutenant Anthony Utt began his new position as the commander of the Michigan State Police Alpena Post.

Utt began his career with the MSP in 2012.

He was assigned to the Alpena Post after graduating from the 124th Trooper Recruit School and stayed until 2016 when he became a resident trooper in Mio in Oscoda County.

In the fall of 2018, Utt moved down to West Branch and worked on the Strike Team Investigative Narcotics Group until March 2020 when he was promoted to uniform sergeant at the Alpena Post. After around seven months, he took a reassignment to the detective bureau.

He worked at the detective bureau, where he was the lead detective in the Brynn Bills and Abby Hill homicide cases, until December when he was promoted to post commander.

As post commander, Utt is in charge of the overall operations at the Alpena Post. The post covers Alpena, Alcona, Montmorency, Oscoda, and Presque Isle counties. Currently, the Alpena post staffs 19 troopers, four uniform sergeants, and two detective sergeants.

“We have five counties, so resource allocation is obviously a challenge where it always seems like we’re low on troopers,” Utt said. “It’s kind of a statewide thing right now.”

One of the positives for the Alpena Post is that they have good working relationships with all the other local police agencies like the sheriff’s office and city police departments, Utt said.

“We rely on them for backup, they rely on us for backup, so there’s a good teamwork and collaboration amongst all the police agencies up here,” he said.

Another big part of his role is community engagement. He works to build and maintain relationships with community leaders and stakeholders.

As a whole, the Alpena Post functions as a typical police department. Troopers are out on the road enforcing traffic laws, responding to calls for service, and investigating crime.

One of the challenges Utt faces in his new position is navigating the differences between this role and previous roles he has held, he said. Utt’s role as commander is more on the administrative side, and most of his work is done in the office and not out in the field.

As a detective, he was used to being directly involved in solving cases. Now, he is less involved with typical police work and more involved with administration.

“This is where I spend a good portion of my day — in front of this computer,” Utt said.

He says he misses being out in the field at times, but acknowledged the challenges that come with that role.

“We’re responding at people’s worst times,” Utt said. “So I think it’s important that there are people that want to do this job to provide that support and try to help people through the worst days of their lives.”

Utt said the most interesting part of his career has been the various homicide investigations he has been involved in since they are far more complex than other investigations he has done.

Outside of work, Utt loves hunting, spending time on the lake, and hanging out with friends and family.

“Pretty normal stuff for Northern Michigan,” he said.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.