SHELTON, Wash. -- The Washington State Patrol is considering increasing future class sizes at the academy in Shelton to combat a shortage of troopers.
There are 95 trooper vacancies across Washington. In the next two to three years, about 200 troopers will be eligible to retire. That has recruiters extra busy searching for candidates to be part of 33 weeks of training.
The state patrol is hoping at least 60 cadets will be part of the academy in the next several months but they're willing to take more.
"Our desire is to have every qualified candidate we can," recruiting Lt. Tim Coley said. "So if we achieve more than 60 for this next class, the training division will figure out a way to get them in here."
But it hasn't been easy. Coley says right now there are about 500 police officer vacancies at agencies throughout Washington.
"All of us are out looking at the same talent pool, if you will. So the competition is very tough," said Coley.
There's another challenge. Coley says when the economy is robust, police recruiting tends to go down. WSP is encouraging every employee on the force to do his or her part.
"We really need all of them, together, to get the number we need," said Coley. "The most successful applicants come from someone in the agency who has either reached out to them. It could be a family member, a friend, an acquaintance, neighbor."
It's a search that won't end with the next class. WSP officials expect the extra recruiting efforts to be in full gear for the next two years. About 80 percent of recruits will actually become troopers. The next class at the academy starts in November.
