State Police Looking For Recruits
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
Arkansas State Police say they need new
recruits. Colonel Don Melton says the force is authorized to have a
thousand officers, is funded for 870 and only has about 770.
That means only about 360 uniformed troopers are available to
patrol more than 16-thousand miles of highways.
And Melton says help is NOT on the way yet. The department has
space in its academy barracks for 55 trainees, but six weeks into
the academy class, only 19 troopers-in-training remain.
The initial interest is there, but family concerns or inability
to handle the physical and psychological rigors of police work
weeds out most of the 18-hundred prospects each year. This year,
only half showed up for the test, just 54 passed and 28 of those
were hired as trooper trainees.
Posted by Mike Hellgren
