WASHINGTON — The Washington State Patrol needs troopers, but finding them is proving to be a huge challenge. The patrol said there just aren't enough qualified candidates.
That's why at a booth in the back of the Everett Community College Career Fair, two troopers are hoping a conversation with Becca Carnevale makes a lasting impact.
"My dad works for the federal government, so I've grown up in it," the senior told us.
She's curious about a career with the Washington State Patrol, but the criminal justice major doesn't know if she'll actually apply.
"I'm open-minded about it. I'm not set on one thing," she explained. But at least Becca is thinking about it; few others are too.
"At this point it's becoming more difficult to get anyone interested, whether male or female; it's a sign of the time," said Sergeant Kirk Rudeen from WSP headquarters in Marysville.
He said it's tough to attract people to the policing profession today, but even tougher to attract the right people. The patrol is short more than 100 troopers or 10% of what makes them full strength.
"That's a significant amount of people not on the road to get the impaired drivers off the road, handle collisions, stop the aggressive drivers," Rudeen said.
Two years ago they were down a third; that's only improved because of increased recruiting efforts like attending recruiting events and running commercials.
Here's the problem by the numbers: Snohomish County has a class of 36 recruits testing Friday, and the patrol estimates only 20 will even show up, 15 will pass the physical exam, 10 will likely pass the written, six will survive the oral and maybe one will pass a polygraph.
"I've talked with other agencies, and they are facing the same issue of getting qualified applicants," Rudeen said.
That's why the exchange with Becca is anything but casual—it's vital to keeping you safe.
"It greatly impacts our ability to further drive down injury and fatal collisions," said Rudeen.
Passing the background check and polygraph is another issue for the WSP; even though marijuana is legal in Washington, using within a year of the patrol automatically disqualifies a candidate.
Want to talk about the news of the day? Watch free streaming video on the KIRO 7 mobile app and iPad app, and join us here on Facebook.