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Published on Monday, February 21, 2005
in the Lakeland Ledger
Just about any Florida legislator has favorite issues and causes. Most all of them love apple pie, the American flag, Mom and law enforcement. Try to convince Florida Highway Patrol troopers that they're included in that last item.
As important a piece as the FHP is to the law-enforcement puzzle, many legislators think of the agency's role as one of public safety.
It's easier to justify the shabby treatment that way.
While the state's population grew by nearly 9 percent in the past five years, the number of troopers has increased by less than 3 percent. The FHP was budgeted for 1,116 troopers last year, but of those positions, more than 100 went unfilled because the pay isn't competitive.
"We don't have enough FHP people out there doing the job," said Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, told the South Florida SunSentinel last month. "We've got the same amount of state troopers on I-95 as we had 10 years ago."
As it turned out, his view was too optimistic. The newspaper found that Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties have 66 fewer troopers on the road than they did in 1994.
Other FHP districts have similar shortages. Lee, Collier and Charlotte Counties should have 44 troopers. The district has only 30.
FHP spokesman Major Ernesto Duarte said troopers often quit to take jobs with higher-playing police departments. "We've got troopers who can get $6,000$12,000 raises just by changing uniforms," Duarte told the newspaper.
"We're competing with all the other large police agencies and sheriff's departments in Florida for the same qualified applicants," Chief Sylvester Dawson of the FHP's training academy told a reporter last year.
To complicate matters, back in the 1990s, the Legislature tinkered with FHP salaries in an effort to attract more rookies by raising entry-level pay. But the pay for experienced troopers wasn't adjusted as well. Veterans left the force for other agencies. Some legislators tried to address the problem last year, but the bill sent to the governor only contained an across-theboard raise for experienced troopers.
Slosberg said Gov. Jeb Bush's proposed budget for the coming year doesn't do much to help the shortfall. "I think the transportation budget is ridiculous," when it comes to highway safety, Slosberg wrote in a letter to Bush this month.
As an alternative, Slosberg said he is sponsoring a bill that would add $20 to the fine for each traffic violation. The money would be placed in a grant program designed for safety. "All law-enforcement agencies with jurisdiction on the Interstates would be able to apply for the grants," said Slosberg. "This could bring approximately $60 million each year to fund Interstate traffic enforcement."
He added that even with the extra money coming in from the $20 surcharge, Florida still needs to increase funding for the Highway Patrol. The FHP needs 30 percent more troopers than it has, and their salaries need to be increased so they'll be competitive with other agencies.
Slosberg told the Sun-Sentinel that he will "be up there [in Tallahassee] screaming, making sure that traffic safety gets its share of the pie" when the session begins next month.
Polk County's delegation members should add their voices to Slosberg's solo.