A special team of State Police Hometown Security troopers will hit the roads in the Upper Peninsula in 2010, providing added law enforcement in areas with a limited police presence, during special events, and in high-traffic and high-crime areas of the region.

The U.P. team is one of three such teams in Michigan, each funded with $2.2 million in federal stimulus grants designated for rural law enforcement, for a total program cost of $6.6 million in the state. These funds will pay wages for five troopers and a sergeant, their cars, computers, equipment, and weapons for two years.

In addition to a team covering the U.P., another team will patrol the region between Mackinaw City and Grayling, and a third team will cover the thumb region.

The 8th District office for Michigan State Police will oversee the U.P. team, and the agency hopes to fund the program out of the State Police budget after the two years is up, said Inspector Stan Rogers with the 8th District office in Marquette.

"We feel there is a need for a mobile team across the district," Mr. Rogers said.

The U.P. team will be supervised by Mr. Rogers, 8th District Commander Captain Myles McCormack, and First Lieutenant Walley Helmilla of the 8th District.

The six-man team, working 40-hour weeks, will focus on targeting high-traffic and highcrime areas in the U.P., Mr. Rogers said, as well as providing additional law enforcement presence at events with large crowds and in areas with a limited police presence, like the area surrounding the former K.I. Sawyer Air Force base.

"We're hoping to, with the focus being on traffic and crime prevention, to be able to assure that motorists can drive through the U.P. safely," he said, "and also to assure that major events across the district have proper law enforcement presence for the safety of people attending."

The team will provide additional traffic enforcement along major highways in the U.P., Mr. Rogers said, including US-2, US- 41, and M-28 to help keep all motorists safer, including students traveling to and from colleges in the area and tourists in the summer months. T roopers will step up enforcement during high-traffic times for these groups, such as before and after holidays and on weekends.

"We have a large number of students that travel to and from their colleges. Those times when they are traveling, we will ensure they can do that safely," Mr. Rogers said. "The ability for tourists to travel safely across the U.P. is very important to us, along with our year-around citizens."

Eastern Upper Peninsula residents, he said, will see an increased police presence at major events like the Labor Day Bridge Walk across the Mackinac Bridge, the I-500 snowmobile race in Sault Ste. Marie, and annual car show in St. Ignace.

Troopers from the U.P.'s 13 state police posts may apply for a job on the team, and five troopers and a sergeant will be selected from this pool of applicants by program leaders at headquarters in Marquette. The troopers selected will be pulled from their posts and assigned to two-year assignments to the Hometown Security team, and their current jobs will be filled at the posts.

This process will begin in January to put the team together early in the year.