Fast-track program designed to temper trooper shortage in North Carolina

HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — There's a trooper shortage in North Carolina for several reasons. But a fast-track training program happening in the mountains later this year aims to get more officers out on patrol.

There are 230 trooper vacancies across North Carolina right now. In the western counties, there are 25, including two in Haywood County and one in Jackson County.

That number keeps growing, according to Master Trooper Jordan Parton.

“We're getting ready to start pushing close to 300. We lose on average about 11 troopers a month due to retirements and people leaving for better-paying jobs,” she said.

Parton said the current climate in the country is also a factor.

“I do think people are a little hesitant to join law enforcement just because of the danger that they face,” she said.

Asked if the public should worry about safety, Parton said, “I would say no. They shouldn't necessarily be worried. It may take a little bit longer for us to respond to certain calls, like collisions and stuff."

To add to the ranks, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol is offering fast-track training that lasts 13 weeks ... half the standard time.

“It's for sworn North Carolina Basic Law Enforcement candidates. If they've already been through Basic Law Enforcement training, they're eligible for the fast-track school," Parton said.

The Fast Track Basic School for Western North Carolina applicants will take place in Black Mountain in mid-August.

“We're currently accepting applications for that school only for about another week or so,” Parton said, adding there's more work even after completing the program.

“So, they'll be assigned an officer that they'll ride with, another trooper, and then they'll go through that field training program. And then once they complete that, they'll be released out on their own,” Parton said.

The starting salary is around $46,000.

“Once they complete the basic patrol school, it will bump up to $49,000. And then they'll get a 6.5 percent raise every year for the first six years,” Parton said.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s Ellen Pitt said that's not much for a job where officers put their lives on the line.

“They have to put a bullet-proof vest on to go to their job,” Ellen Pitt said.

She thinks the short course will pay off.

“I just feel pretty confident that, even though they may shorten that training and put a lot of stuff into it, condense it like that, that those other layers of training that come after that will have them prepared,” Pitt said.

The patrol is also looking to hire more women and minorities.

“There are approximately about 50 female troopers in North Carolina right now. So, maybe about 3% females. So, we're definitely always looking for, like I said, qualified applicants,” Parton said.