Highway Patrol faces shortages despite new recruits

Thirty new North Carolina Highway Patrol troopers will soon be hitting the roads in the eastern part of the state, but despite Friday's graduating class there are nearly 190 vacancies, according to the agency in September.

Eight of those open positions are in Troop G, which includes Buncombe County and the 16 western counties in the state.

Less troopers make the job tougher, said trooper Jason Metcalf, who is a recruiter for Troop G.

"We can't do less," he said. "There are always calls for service. There are always collisions. There is always going to be enforcement. We are always going to have to do the same activity with less people."

Most of the shortage is due to hundreds of troopers retiring and a few basic training school sessions being cut due to budget restraints back in 2008-09, Metcalf said.

"It will take several years for us to build up," he said. "If you don't run a patrol school then you're getting this huge gap (of new troopers)."

In recent years, 2012-15, 192 troopers have retired, according to the State Highway Patrol. Fifty troopers retired from January-September of 2016 with more expected by the end of the year.

To help deal with the surge in retirees and canceled patrol courses, two to three patrol schools have been taking place each year to allow the agency to grow.

There are about 1,600 troopers on the roads currently covering 78,000 miles. While patrolling state roads in 2015, troopers ticketed about 371,000 speeding drivers, and arrested about 22,000 drunk drivers. Within 365 days there were nearly a thousand deaths investigated by the state patrol.

For retired trooper Gene Williams, a 27-year veteran, the highlight of the job was knowing that he helped people.

"I charged a man with driving while impaired in Barnardsville one night and arrested him," he said. "We came to court. Afterwards he came up and shook my hand. (He) told me, ‘You saved my life.'"

In another drunk driving arrest Williams had a man approach him after court and say that he saved the man's marriage.

"We see people at their absolute worst," Williams said. "No one wants to get a ticket. No one wants to be wrong...(But at the end of the day) you've helped people ... And most of the time people helped me more than I helped them."

But not every day is easy.

"You don’t know from one minute to the next what you’ll be getting into," Williams said. "You could be working a wreck and the next minute you know your dealing with a fire or are in a fight for your life."

Additionally, there are always things you can't prepare or train for.

Williams recalled a fatal collision where a drunk driver crossed the center line of the road and hit a pregnant mother head on. The woman, who was later pronounced dead, fell onto her 9-year-old's lap. When he arrived at the hospital the girl kept asking about her mother.

After that incident, Williams was able to join a peer support team where troopers worked to deal with critical incidents.

Many sacrifices are made in a trooper's personal life, too. Williams missed several birthday parties, school plays, and family functions over the years.

"You name it, we did it, saw, experienced it," he said.

Williams also got to travel across the state on special assignments for football games, races, and helped the secret service. In 2011, he sat in Billy Graham's living room and talked to him one-on-one.

He retired from the patrol in 2014 but he continues to work in law enforcement with the Haywood County sheriff's office.

"At the end of the day I was able to help people. I was able to be helped," Williams said. "I was blessed to be a trooper...We don't get rich (but) I wanted to leave my community a little better shaped than I found it and I hope I did it."

Metcalf is on the hunt for applicants who have completed a Basic Law Enforcement Training course. There will be a shortened patrol school held in June and August of 2017 for those applicants who meet the requirements.

Anyone who is interested in joining the state highway patrol, even if they do not currently hold a Basic Law Enforcement Training certificate, are encouraged to reach out to Metcalf or the agency.

"Even when I’m off I’m looking for qualified people," he said. "Recruitment doesn’t stop when you take the uniform off. You constantly have to be looking."

By the numbers: 

Statewide vacancies: 187

Troop G vacancies: 8 

Troop G includes: 17 counties west of Burke County in North Carolina

Positions available in Troop G: 130

Troopers who have retired: 

2013: 68 

2014: 61

2015: 63

2016 (through mid-September): 50

Recruitment/job information: 

People who are interested in applying for trooper positions can click here for more information. 

A trooper who completes basic patrol school (a 29-week course) starting salary is $36,050, according to Metcalf. Once a trooper hits the roads they receive a 5 percent increase, which is just under $38,000.

The average trooper makes around $40,000 per year factoring in late shifts and holidays, Metcalf added.

To qualify applicants must be between 21-39 years of age or less, be in excellent physical condition, have a high school degree or have completed the G.E.D., must be a U.S. citizen, have no criminal history, and 20/20 vision in each eye. Applicants must also pass a series of tests including reading comprehension, physical fitness, written tests, polygraph examination, background investigation, psychological tests, and interview steps.

Applications for the 142nd and 143rd Highway Patrol Basic Schools are currently being accepted.  

• 142nd Basic School will be June 11, 2017 - September 22, 2017 (15 weeks) Short School
• 143rd Basic School will be August 27, 2017 - December 8, 2017 (15 weeks) Short School