January 2025 – Trooper Rhonemus (ND Highway Patrol)
Trooper Rhonemus is a five year veteran of the ND Highway Patrol. He began his career as a traffic enforcement trooper in Watford City in 2020, transferring to Fargo as a traffic enforcement trooper in March 2022, where he as worked since
Trooper Rhonemus has established himself through his daily actions as a strong supporter of the ND Highway Patrol mission to make a difference everyday by providing high quality law enforcement services to keep ND safe and secure. He accomplishes his mission everyday with the values of professionalism, respect, integrity, commitment, loyalty and accountability.
Trooper Rhonemus is a leader in our organization. He has a high drive to make our roadways and communities safe, and is a leader in our organization for crash causation violation enforcement. Trooper Rhonemus has a strong commitment to impaired driver enforcement and commercial motor vehicle enforcement. Trooper Rhonemus is a leader and remains a Level I certified commercial motor vehicle inspector, which is the highest level of training for inspecting CMV’s. He maintains this certification even though it is not a requirement for his current duties.
An example of his commitment to keeping our communities safe: In July 2022, Trooper Rhonemus was working an overtime detail. During Trooper Rhonemus’s overtime detail, Maichael Yousa began a dangerous rampage around the Fargo area that included him intentionally driving over a motorcyclist and shooting a handgun in and from his apartment near Essentia Hospital. Trooper Rhonemus responded, located Yousa fleeing the apartment in a pickup. Trooper Rhonemus stopped Yousa who failed to comply with lawful orders. Yousa then fled, crashing into several vehicles before disabling his vehicle at the intersection of I-29 and I-94. With other vehicles and people within close proximity, Yousa exited the pickup and began to fire rounds from a handgun. Trooper Rhonemus engaged Yousa, firing his duty weapon, ending Yousa’s rampage, and taking Yousa into custody. For Trooper Rhonemus’s actions in July 2022, he was nominated for and awarded the ND Highway Patrol Distinguished Service Medal for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty and the public he sworn an oath to protect.
Trooper Rhonemus is a teacher for our organization as well. Because of his commitment and knowledge, he has volunteered to be a field training officer within our organization. Our field training officers assist our new troopers with integration into the daily work of a trooper after the new trooper leaves the academy. This training teaches the trooper the ND Highway Patrol culture, policies and the application of the training they learned at the academy. This role is critical to the success of the ND Highway Patrol and the individual troopers beginning their career with our agency. Trooper Rhonemus is a patient teacher and was picked for this role because of his wealth of knowledge in all areas of being a traffic enforcement trooper; traffic stops, crash response, assisting other agencies, criminal enforcement, and enforcement of commercial motor vehicle regulations.
In addition, Trooper Rhonemus is an instructor at the ND Highway Patrol Law Enforcement Training Academy. Miles specializes in instructing emergency vehicle operations (EVOC) and the pursuit intervention technique (PIT) training. Trooper Rhonemus teaches new law enforcement officers for the ND Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies how to safely operate a patrol car during emergency operations and how to safely and successfully conduct a PIT maneuver. These skills are critical for the safety of the officers and the public we drive amongst.
It is an honor to nominate Trooper Miles Rhonemus. He sets a great example for our agency through his strong work ethic, his commitment to serving the public and his commitment to his fellow officers through his instruction and teaching duties.
Past Honorees
December 2024 – Parole Specialist Robert Arman
November 2024 -Officer Sylvie Schweyen (West Fargo Police Department)
October 2024 – Officer Patrick Thomas (Fargo Police Department)
September 2024 – Deputy Jon Dodge (Cass County Sheriff’s Office)
August 2024 – Community Policing Coordinator Leann Wallin (Moorhead Police Department)
July 2024 – Trooper Brian Larson (North Dakota Highway Patrol)
June 2024 – Parole Officer Sherrie Prochnow (ND Dept. of Corrections & Rehabilitation)
May 2024 – Detective Miles Orth (West Fargo Police Department)
April 2024 – Officer Ian Kristan (Fargo Police Department)
March 2024 – Sgt. Kris Kevorkian (Cass County Sheriff’s Office)