Despite what you may see along I-75 at any given time, there’s a trooper shortage in the Florida’s Highway Patrol. Just in the last seven years, the FHP has lost nearly 1,000 troopers to retirement or resignation- more than half its current workforce. This spring, the agency had 240 vacancies to fill…but the state’s trooper academy only had 40 recruits. While the workforce shrinks, the roads are getting busier. The number of crashes statewide has nearly doubled from 2011 to 2016. One issue the FHP is having? Low pay. Troopers haven’t gotten a raise in three years, and the pay for a new FHP trooper is just shy of $34,000. That’s the same rate that’s been in place since 2005, meaning those new recruits are being paid nearly 6 thousand less than in Alabama, 13 grand less than Louisiana…and less than HALF of what Texas State Troopers start out at.
