Female Troopers
The Patrol hired the first female Trooper on May 16, 1977, with the appointment of Martha “Marci” J. McGregor. Trooper McGregor was assigned to Salt Lake Radio Dispatch. From 1978 to 1980, all troopers were phased out of dispatch and were replaced with civilian employees. This was Marci’s opportunity to transfer to the field in Salt Lake County.
In 1984, while working at the Peerless Port of Entry, Trooper Karla Conway became the first Utah Highway Patrol trooper to give birth. She would later state, “I may be the first trooper to have a baby, but I won’t be the last.” Trooper Conway’s husband, Kevin, was serving as a law enforcement specialist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources as the time.
The first husband and wife troopers on the Patrol were Trooper Kathy Slagowski and Sergeant Doug Slagowski, married January 11, 1985. Kathy later became another first, the first female sergeant, promoted August 14, 1991.