Wanted: Troopers

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.

While the death toll on Southern Nevada highways has surged to a record-breaking 100, the number of Nevada Highway Patrol troopers is continuing to plummet, and officials are bracing for the problem to get even worse.

When the Legislature reconvenes next year, it will be considering a proposal to raise the sales tax in Southern Nevada, allowing the five Clark County police departments -- Metro, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite -- to hire nearly 1,700 new officers.

If that happens, Highway Patrol officials believe that fewer people will take jobs with the agency, which pays entry-level troopers about $9,400 to $11,000 less per year than the local police departments.

"It concerns me because we already have a hard time competing with those agencies for applicants," Col. David Hosmer, head of the Nevada Highway Patrol, said.

Metro, Henderson and North Las Vegas "are three of the best-paying (police departments) in the nation when you factor in the cost of living. We do a good job in training our troopers, and they are ripe for the picking by those agencies," he said.

Officer Sean Walker, spokesman for the North Las Vegas Police, said troopers "absolutely" are considered desireable job candidates because they are already licensed to be police officers in the state of Nevada and, more importantly, they are experienced in traffic enforcement and accident reconstruction.

There should be 133 troopers patrolling the highways in Clark County, but Trooper Angie Chavera, spokeswoman for the Highway Patrol's southern area command, said there are only 64 -- 23 working day shift and night shift, respectively, and 18 working graveyard.

And outside the city, there should be eight troopers patrolling the heavily traveled Interstate 15, which links Las Vegas to Los Angeles, but there are only three.

Officials are trying to fill the gaps by recruiting in other states, particularly California, and at military installations and at job fairs. Sessions are being held in Las Vegas every month for potential recruits to take the Department of Public Safety's written and physical exams.

But the turnout has been disappointing, Chavera said. The weekend of Nov. 20, officials were expecting 115 people to take the exams, but only 55 showed.

When Chavera tested 10 years ago, 500 people showed up, she said.

"We're not seeing these numbers like we used to and I don't know why," she said. "People don't want to be cops anymore."

Of those who showed, fewer than 20 passed the written and physical tests. Those must then undergo an extensive background check. Chavera said if they're lucky, they might get one new trooper out of the whole process.

The next testing session is scheduled for Dec. 18. So far 58 people are scheduled to show. More information on the testing and employment requirements can be found at http://nhp.nv.gov/index.htm.

The lack of manpower is effecting safety of the highways because there aren't enough troopers to do proactive patrolling, Hosmer said.

To date, troopers have investigated more than 11,375 collisions on Southern Nevada highways, and 100 people were killed. Last year there were 12,159 collisions, and 79 people died.

The key to reducing the number and the severity of collisions is analyzing when and where they occur, then assigning troopers to those areas.

The Las Vegas area does compile and study the crash statistics, Hosmer said, but there aren't enough troopers to patrol the high-risk areas at the peak times.

"You have to have enough staffing for it to work," he said. "Without enough staffing to be proactive, you will always be reactive."

Response times have gone up from 6 1/2 minutes four years ago to 11 1/2 minutes now, but for non-emergencies, drivers could wait for up to 40 minutes for a trooper to respond to a crash scene or a call for service, officials said.

The Highway Patrol does have a hard time attracting recruits, but it faces more difficulties in retaining them.

Since June of 2003, there have been 39 troopers hired for the Las Vegas area, and during that time 38 left for jobs elsewhere, Hosmer said.

Six new troopers will be graduating from the Highway Patrol's academy in January, but Chavera said six are expected to leave around the same time for jobs that offer better pay and benefits.

And 15 cadets and "laterals," -- those who have prior law enforcement experience -- are slated to attend academy in February and all will be assigned to the Las Vegas area, Hosmer said.

But it takes nine to 12 months of training before a trooper can do solo patrols, Chavera said, and during that time other troopers may quit.

Until the state raises troopers' salaries to make them competitive with the local police agencies, the Highway Patrol will likely continue to have problems hiring and retaining troopers.

The Legislature gave state workers a 2 percent raise that went into effect in July, bringing the starting salary for troopers to $33,798, but it's still too low to be competitive with the other local agencies: Metro pays $44,903, Henderson pays $43,385 and North Las Vegas pays $43,218.

Hosmer said he plans to ask the Legislature for help in terms of salary and resources for troopers, but given the state's other financial needs, he's not sure if lawmakers will give the agency much help. He declined to say specifically what he plans to ask for.

"It's a long an arduous process balancing the needs of the state," Hosmer said. "I can ask for the world and maybe I'll get half of it."