Published on Friday, January 13, 2006
in the Ft. Myers News-Press

Lawmakers call for more state troopers

TALLAHASSEE As traffic deaths rise and road congestion worsens, some legislators Thursday endorsed the Florida Highway Patrol's $5 million request to put more state troopers in patrol cars.

"It's unfair for us to charge the FHP with ensuring safety and not giving them the full team," said Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla.

The number of registered vehicles in Florida is up 52 percent since 1993. Visitors to the state have increased 81 percent in that time.

But state trooper staffing has increased only 10 percent in that 13-year span.

Florida road deaths, as a result, are on the rise, said Sen. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton. The state recorded a 10 percent increase in traffic fatalities in 2005 from the year before.

"It gives Florida a black eye," said Slosberg, a fervent supporter of highway-safety programs.

State patrols are increasingly spread thin as rocketing development puts pressure on major roadways. While the FHP has put dedicated patrols on areas such as Interstate 4 near Orlando, other regions are now critical.

"One of our major hot spots now is Collier and Lee counties, because of growth," said Col. Chris Knight, who heads the statewide police force.

In a three-day investigative series that ran in October, The News-Press reported that the FHP is dramatically underfunded.

Slosberg blamed government.

"The state wants to shift the bill to the cities and counties," he told The News-Press. "It's the Wild, Wild West out there because we don't have law enforcement. The governor doesn't want to fund it."

Florida's population is up by more than 1.5 million people since 2000, yet the Legislature has added only 22 troopers in that time.

Because of that:

• Only Wisconsin has fewer state troopers per capita than Florida.
• Florida troopers are writing 20 percent fewer seat-belt tickets in Southwest Florida.
• They're making 22 percent fewer DUI arrests then in 2000.

That has helped fuel record traffic fatalities throughout the state.

Knight promised in October that if the Legislature gives him more troopers, most of them will go to Central and Southwest Florida. Right now, 84 troopers patrol Southwest Florida from Venice to Naples, a number that hasn't increased since 2002.

The Highway Patrol's seven-year staffing plan would add 425 officers by 2012, costing $46 million. The plan is included in the FHP's current budget request to Gov. Jeb Bush.

The governor plans to release his own 2006-07 budget proposal before the end of the month.

Separately, the agency also wants $3.6 million to finish a pay-raise package halfway funded last year, giving troopers annual raises from $1,200 to $2,400 based on their experience.

Legislative auditors have challenged whether there is adequate data to support the FHP's repeated request for more troopers. In past reports, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability has noted local agencies from county sheriffs to city police departments patrol many of the same roads and provide many of the same services.

Rep. Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island and organizer of the eight-member Florida Highway Patrol Caucus, called the Highway Patrol's request "a very conservative proposal ... baby steps toward where we need to go."

With Thursday's graduation of 57 officers from the Highway Patrol's training academy in North Florida, the agency now has 1,691 troopers, still below the 1,811 authorized by the Legislature.

An average of nine troopers leave every month, most to take higher paying jobs with local police departments, Knight said.

"Retention is our real issue," he said.

Following training that Knight estimates costs the state $80,000 per cadet, the starting salary for a Florida trooper is $33,310 to $38,310 in Lee and Collier, among six counties with a premium to attract employees.

"I've got friends who were very loyal to the FHP, but when the salary difference is $14,000, $15,000 a year, you've got to take it," said Maj. Ernesto Duarte, the agency's chief of public affairs.