After 37 Years, Trooper Makes Emotional Final Radio Call

We’re not going to pretend we have the best working relationship with officers of the law. We love driving fast and we’ve all been stopped and cited, most of us multiple times, in our days behind the wheel. However, we can’t deny that enforcing the law is a respectable, honorable profession and while we hate to see those flashing lights in our mirror, we do have the utmost respect for those in the law enforcement community.

That’s why we are sharing this Arizona state trooper’s tear-jerking final sign-off. Trooper Mark Gilberg worked for the state of Arizona’s Department of Public Safety for 37 years and three weeks, starting with the agency a few months before I was born all the way back in 1981. On this day, he called in for the final time to sign off as he reached the point of retiring, and a fellow officer was there to capture his touching final radio transmission.

You can hear the sniffles and Trooper Gilberg wiping away the tears as he prepares to call in his final sign-off, and you can hear the emotion in his voice as he begins his call. Coming back from dispatch, the dispatcher’s voice is also heavy with emotion as she replies, clearly overcome with the weight of the moment. Trooper Gilberg thanks everybody at the department for making his career so special and signs off with “Thank you very much, and keep smiling,” though the smiles are certainly dampened by the moment.

While there are tears, these are certainly tears of joy, especially for Trooper Gilberg, who will finally be able to relax and enjoy life for a while. If he’s like most older guys I know, he’ll get bored really quickly and have to find something else to do to occupy his time, but hopefully he will at least take a few weeks or moths off to just kick up his feet and enjoy his time outside of his patrol car.