Pa. State Police recruiters struggle to find a few good men, women
Editor's note: This is the second part of a two-part series about the Pennsylvania State Police staffing crisis.
Brian Carpenter is one of 10 troopers charged with finding recruits to offset a mounting wave of Pennsylvania State Police retirements that left the perennially understaffed agency down by 331 officers as of September.
But filling that gap of a few hundred troopers is the least of Carpenter's challenges.
An estimated 1,000 troopers are eligible for retirement this year, and nearly 40 percent of the force will qualify for pensions in the next four years.
The nation's oldest state police agency is on the cusp of a potentially devastating exodus at a time when the pool of candidates interested in joining the agency has reached an all-time low.
For Carpenter and other recruiters, obstacles have multiplied in recent years, with the most daunting being that young men and women are not clamoring to be state troopers as they were in the past.
A 30-year low in unemployment, escalating violence against police and an uptick in officers being charged criminally in connection with on-the-job incidents have made law enforcement work less appealing to potential candidates.
Even the starting salary of $58,000 a year, full benefits and the promise of a generous lifetime pension after 20 years of service are not always enough to entice recruits.
“We're battling social media, and we've been painted with a black brush. A lot of people don't want to live in a fish bowl, constantly under public scrutiny,” Carpenter said.
Police agencies across the nation have had to contend with a decline in applicants, with some as much as 90 percent, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Ten years ago, Seattle police had 3,000 applicants turn out to apply for 10 positions. This year, 1,000 showed up to apply for 70 slots, association statistics show.
In Fairfax County, Va., an entrance exam that drew 4,000 people five years ago recently attracted only 300.
The change has left law enforcement agencies at all levels struggling to find good recruits, according to Lt. Linette Quinn, commander of recruitment at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in Hershey.
“I think we're all competing for the same person,” Quinn said.
Records obtained by the Tribune-Review show 311 troopers have graduated this year from the academy and 96 are set to graduate in December — the most new officers in more than a decade — but it's not enough to keep pace with the troopers lining up for pensions.
Exhaustive process
Jeremy Wilson, a professor in Michigan State University's School of Criminal Justice, suggested that police agencies might have to alter their approach to background investigations when looking to millennials to fill their ranks.
Wilson warned that young candidates who have grown up with social media hold different ideas about character and often are very candid in disclosing personal information that an older generation might find questionable, such as information about credit problems, minor drug use and relationship issues.
The agency has loosened its residency requirements and offered waivers on its rule that candidates have some college credits, but Carpenter noted that the ban on piercings and tattoos above the collar line or anything that shows in a short-sleeved shirt may dissuade potential applicants.
Some have said testing requirements have become so rigorous that candidates can't or don't want to make the effort to meet them.
The application process for would-be state troopers is exhaustive, including a testing and vetting process that leads to a demanding 27-week stay at the academy.
Aaron Hunt was a 25-year-old college graduate working as a letter carrier by day and a beer delivery man by night when his stepmother, a state trooper, suggested he join the force.
“You have the right qualities. You are always helping people,” he recalls her saying.
It took Hunt, now 39, whose father was a trooper, three tries to pass the agency's written test before he cleared the next round: an oral exam, a physical readiness test, drug screening, polygraph and medical exams, a psychological test and a background check.
In the end, it was the intense physical training at the academy that nearly stopped him.
He developed a stress fracture in his leg six weeks into his stint at the academy. When he returned with the next class of cadets, he was diagnosed with a fracture in the other leg at the 11 1⁄2-week mark.
Then there were problems with the arches of his feet. He graduated about a year later and works with Carpenter as a recruiter.
Grueling training demands
Only about 10 percent of every 4,000 applicants who take the written exam receive an appointment to the academy, Quinn said.
About 80 percent of cadets, or 1,177, appointed between November 2007 and November 2014 graduated on time, records obtained by the Trib show. During that time, 136 cadets dropped out because of medical issues and 208 resigned for other reasons, records indicate.
Some, like Hunt, apply to return once medical problems are resolved, but those who resign cannot return.
Passing the grueling physical and mental demands of academy training — during which cadets get a full salary and benefits — is a point of pride.
But it has become the nexus of a lawsuit the federal government filed last year, alleging the agency's physical readiness test — a 14-inch vertical jump; a timed 23.5-second agility run through cones; a 300-meter sprint in 77 seconds; 13 push-ups; and a 1.5-mile run in 17 minutes and 48 seconds — discriminates against women and violates the federal Civil Rights Act.
Had the test not been used, the Justice Department claims, 45 more women would have been hired as entry-level troopers.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to discuss the suit or events leading to its filing. Quinn said she was unaware of any complaints and noted that a third of those who have taken the written exam since 2013 have been women and minorities.
Meanwhile, Carpenter and Hunt continue their recruiting effort in high schools, colleges, veterans' organizations and elsewhere.
They're looking at people with all kinds of skills — from engineers to teachers — to join the ranks, according to Hunt, who has a bachelor's degree in graphic communications.
Despite the demanding physical and mental testing, there is one quality paramount in potential troopers — the ability to communicate effectively, particularly in volatile situations.
“The reality is when we go out, the object is to talk to people and defuse the situation,” Carpenter said.
Debra Erdley is a Trib Total Media staff writer.