Alabama Highway Patrol tries to fill its understaffed ranks

HAMILTON, Ala. (WCBI) – The Twin States have a lot of miles to cover but not so many Troopers to cover them.

Mississippi has made some headway, recently graduating a new class of troopers, but Alabama is still in the middle of a manpower shortage, something they’re hoping to change.

There are several reasons for this shortage in Alabama, and because of it several counties may not even have one trooper in their borders.

However, by making some tweaks to their application process, Highway Patrol looks to put more troopers on the road almost twice as fast as normal.

The main reason for this understaffing is more people are retiring than the agency is hiring.

“We had, back in the mid to late 90s, a bunch of big hiring classes. Then, as we’ve gone on, all of those big classes that we’ve hired, you know, they’re starting to get their time in and people retiring,” said Sgt. Chris Barnes.

Sergeant Barnes is the Post Commander in Hamilton, AL.

He’s been with Alabama’s Highway Patrol for twenty-two years and has seen the numbers drop to where it’s become a concern.

“It puts a strain on manpower,” Barnes said. “You know, you try to cover the best you can, whether it’s responding to an accident or enforcing traffic laws or assisting motorists, you know, you just try to cover it the best you can.”

Barnes says the current number of troopers is 361.

While that may sound like a lot, it really isn’t when you spread that across the state’s 67 counties.

You might get around five or six troopers per county.

“That’s not saying that you have that amount in each county,” the Post Commander said. “There’s some counties where you may have one, and there’s some where you may have none.”

To get more troopers, Barnes says the Alabama Highway Patrol is offering an abbreviated academy.

Normal academies for troopers can take you over 20 weeks to complete.

In Alabama, if you’ve already been through a law enforcement academy, that time is cut in half to ten weeks.

Barnes said, “It naturally speeds up the process of putting somebody through the academy and getting them out on the road.”

Something as appealing as a shortened academy can give Alabama’s Highway Patrol a leg-up on recruiting.

For now, it’s business as usual on the road.

“Until those numbers do come up, you know, we’re going to keep doing what we’re supposed to do,” Barnes said, “and we’re going to do the best we can to be there for the people.”

Barnes says the budget is allowing the hiring for 60 more troopers, and highway patrol is looking to start their abbreviated academy in August, hoping to get more troopers on the roads as soon as possible.