Trooper decline limits service around region

Low pay and slow advancement has created staffing problems for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Statewide the patrol has only 946 troopers on the payroll as of Jan. 15; it is authorized to have 1,012 and this year's budget provides for 987.

This lack of troopers has forced patrol offices across the state to use high-ranking officers for patrol duty, and the lack of funding has curtailed such special programs as criminal interdiction.

Troop E, headquartered in Poplar Bluff, lost four permanent positions through budget cuts over the last two years. Another five will be cut as of April 1, bringing Troop E down to 84 from 92 officers in 2002, Sgt. Larry Plunkett said. None of the vacancies is due to military call-up, Plunkett said, but one or two troopers could be called up at any time.

Troop C, which is headquartered in St. Louis County and includes Perry County, is also understaffed, said Cpl. Al Nothum. Between 20 and 26 of its troopers have been called up for military service.

The loss of manpower means a trooper working in a zone, such as Cape Girardeau County, may have to prioritize the calls he receives. Response time might take as long as an hour in some cases, Plunkett said.

Highway patrol troopers, even those with high rank and as much as 12 years seniority, are leaving to take jobs with other agencies that pay more, even at lesser rank.

Nothum recalled a recruiting officer for the highway patrol who set up a booth at a recruiting fair in Kansas City. He was recruited instead by the Kansas City Police Department at a lower rank but with $6,000 to $7,000 a year more in salary and benefits.

Plunkett said that the patrol pays $57,000 to train one trooper. Starting salary is around $33,000 a year. More troopers might stay, he said, if they could advance faster. Many leave after five years.

Nothum said that some troopers leave not only because of the low pay and slow advancement, but for what they have to do to earn it: working nights, weekends and holidays, and having to relocate with promotions.

"It makes it real tough on the younger officers who want to buy a house, raise a family, and take a vacation with their family," he said.

The patrol is beginning to consider assigning recruits to their home area to keep them, but it still has a long way to go to make up for the salary and seniority issues and the lack of qualifications from those who apply. Plunkett said he believes the people of Missouri want a good quality patrol.

"We've always provided that," he said. "It's only going to be as good as the people coming in and providing the service."

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 160