After graduating at the top of his class from the South Bay Regional Police Explorer Academy, Patrick Shrum became a police explorer and then a police explorer sergeant with the El Segundo Police Department in El Segundo, California. He went on to serve as a U.S. Marine, military police officer graduating as the distinguished honor graduate of his academy class. He served as a police team leader, a military police corporal, and then a military police supervisor and watch commander with the United States Marine Corps. Patrick Shrum’s duties as a Marine included overseeing law enforcement and security operations for Marine One, the Presidents helicopter squadron in charge of transporting the sitting president and vice president of the United States.

After leaving active Marine Corps service, Patrick Shrum worked for several months as as a federal officer with the Marine Corps Civilian Police Department and a year and a half as a law enforcement officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. He most recently served several years as a police officer and detective with the Redondo Beach Police Department. Since 2019, Mr. Shrum has been studying criminal justice at Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri.