Published on Saturday, March 25, 2006
in the First Coast News

FHP Finds Trouble Recruiting New Troopers

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- In their jobs, they are trained to hit the target.

"I love the Highway Patrol. I always wanted to be a trooper," says Sgt. Harold Smith, a 16-year veteran of the FHP, who says a part of his job has missed the bullseye.

"When I was promoted with 12 years on, I was still at the same step raise."

The pay scale for a state law enforcement officer is about $30,000.

Smith, after 12 years on the force, was making about $100 more than a new rookie -- all because FHP doesn't have a step pay scale.

"FHP alone has lost 45 troopers in two months. Each one cited on their exit interview the pay problem," says Jim Rhyne, a retired trooper and now a representative of the International Union of Police Associations.

First Coast News has learned FHP has 178 trooper jobs to fill. The department says recruiting isn't easy because there is no incentive.

"The state's paid $100,000 to train the officer only to lose them to a local department," says Rhyne.

Those are departments like the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, which has a step pay scale and pays more than FHP or other state law enforcement positions in the long run.

The union that watches out for state law enforcement officers says it's such a problem that they are now targeting legislators in Tallahassee.

The union has placed a large billboard with an officer's widow over a grave near the State Capitol building. There is also a question of whether or not $30,000 is enough for law enforcement officers.

"It's frustrating. We lose a lot of qualified, experienced people to other agencies. It would be more cost effective to keep the people we have trained," says Smith.

The issue is being taken up by the legislature. A vote could happen by mid-April.

Twelve state agencies are affected. Some of the agencies include FHP, the DEP, medicaid fraud investigators, the state fire marshal's office investigators as well as the DOT.