Colorado’s top trooper will retire at the end of February after three decades with the agency, the State Patrol announced today.
Col. Mark V. Trostel joined the State Patrol in 1979 as a patrolman in Broomfield.
“Throughout my entire career with the CSP, I feel I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to serve the people of Colorado and honored to work with people of character and integrity – the outstanding men and women of the CSP and Colorado law enforcement,” Trostel said in a statement.
Trostel, a third-generation Colorado native, graduated from Fort Lupton High School in 1973. A college wrestler, Trostel earned a degree in biology from Fort Lewis College in Durango.
He graduated from the FBI’s National Academy in Quantico, Va., Northwestern University’s School of Police and Staff Command and Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
When he was appointed colonel of the State Patrol in June 2003 by then-Gov. Bill Owens, Trostel cited reducing traffic fatalities as a goal, according to his office.
In 2007, the International Association of Chiefs of Police included Colorado as one of the best overall traffic safety programs in the United States.
In 2005, the National Safety Council recognized Colorado’s Alive at 25 program to train young drivers, citing it as most improved, best performance and best instructor. The program was lauded by the National Safety Council again this year for best performance.
Trostel received the National Safety Council’s Distinguished Service to Safety award in 2007.
Traffic operations, victims assistance, child-passenger safety efforts, school initiatives, anti-drug trafficking programs have also been lauded on a regional and national level.
Trostel was Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the Colorado Brand Board’s officer of the year in 2004, and he was the Colorado Motor Carriers Association “Friend of Trucking” award the same year.
