Trooper Bob retires, looks back on his 25 year-long career

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)– He’s loved by thousands and can get his message out with just a click. But soon, Trooper Bob Beres will hang up his patrol hat and get off the road as a highway patrolman.

Trooper Bob has been on the force for 25 years. Now, he’s looking forward to retirement. Not many people can just go by their first name– but for one Trooper, that’s all his followers know him by.

“Because I wanted to be on everybody’s level. I wanted to be the same person that’s talking about highway safety at a baseball stadium eating a hot dog,” Trooper Bob said.

Trooper bob has made a name for himself, being the South Carolina trooper who uses emojis to get his message through to more than 25-thousand followers. It started during the 2015 floods, when he was asked to start a twitter to make sure people got the information they needed. That led to Trooper Bob starting the Sober or Slammer campaign, with commercials that used a language everyone could understand and earned him an Emmy!

But now, after 25 years of law enforcement and four years in the Navy, he is stepping away.

“I’m not retiring from life, I’m just retiring from the patrol!” Trooper Bob said. 

Trooper Bob says he’ll miss the camaraderie the most during his retirement and besides his don’t drink and drive message, there’s something else he tweets about often that he wants people to take away from his law enforcement career:

“You know when you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, ask yourself, ‘what am I going to do today to make today better than yesterday?’ And keep your messages positive, that’s what I try to do on social media. If I don’t have anything to say I try to put a positive message out,” Trooper Bob said.

So keep following on social media find out what’s next.