Sixteen years ago, Brad Adams was working in a private garage when he applied for and eventually was hired with the Missouri Highway Patrol to work in the patrol's garage behind the Troop F headquarters on North Shamrock Road in Jefferson City.
Two years ago, he was made superintendent of the garage, which means he's responsible for all 1,500 vehicles and 140 vessels in the patrol's fleet.
"We're here to keep the officers up and running," Adams said. "We inspect vehicles after they are delivered and install necessary equipment for our needs such as trailer hitches and wiring that isn't done at the factory."
Adams said they are also responsible for retrieving a trooper's vehicle if it breaks down or retrieving vehicles that are being used as evidence in a case.
"We also have to respond to natural disasters," he said. "I went down to Joplin after the tornadoes of 2011 to make sure officers were able to keep running. We had to repair a lot of tires that were punctured by debris."
Adams said they could go to any troop in the state if they had a vehicle maintenance need.
"At Troop C in the St. Louis area, they had only one mechanic and when that person left it took three months to find his replacement," he said. "So we had to rotate personnel to go down and make sure everything there was kept up."
Adams said the folks in the garage are not the typical state employees.
"I instruct a class on vehicle maintenance to our new recruits," he said. "We talk about what we expect them to do to maintain their vehicles. We take pride in our vehicles, and we try to instill that in our recruits."
The sale of used patrol vehicles also falls within Adams' realm.
"We make sure they are in good shape, and we have a good reputation," he said. "We have customers as far away as California. We the keep mileage low so the values of the cars stay up."
"The public doesn't realize how much support staff it requires to help the officers on patrol," Adams added.