Utica, NY (WIBX) - A long serving member of the New York State Police is retiring. Public Information Officer, Trooper Jim Simpson says after serving a little over 32-years, it's time to hang up his hat. "I'm going to be retiring in a couple of months. My last day on the books is May 31st,"  Simpson said.

Simpson says he has no definite plans at this point but said he might do some part time teaching or take part in safety training events. "You never know where I might show up ... driver's ed classes or whatever but, no definite plans. I'm not going to leave the area, I'm staying here, but there's just nothing on the front burner yet," he said.

Simpson says his 32-year, 8-month career has been very "gratifying" adding that, "as a Public Information officer you get to respond to the bigger events that occur in the troop and I've seen a lot of things, I've met a lot of people and hopefully made a difference."

When asked about some of the most memorable events in his tenure with the NYS Police, Simpson said, "Well, the biggest one would be the Sara Anne Wood case, that was certainly the most impact on me, and it impacted everybody that touched it. Woodstock was huge and there are several other things that happened that were big ... Different ice storms, floods and things like that, numerous homicides are things that I'll always remember. But, the thing that impacts me the most, and has, is the Sara Anne Wood case. That was the biggest case that I've ever been involved in and it was emotionally quite a roller-coaster."

Trooper Simpson who sits on the Advisory Board of the Mohawk Valley Branch Of The National Center For Missing And Exploited Children says it's very fitting that his official last day working will be during the 15th annual ride for Missing and Exploited children -- an event that was started after the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Sara Anne Wood of Herkimer County.

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