The Virginia State Police, or VSP, is primarily responsible for protecting the commonwealth’s roadways. Despite reinforcements, they’re still understaffed.

On Jan. 1, 2011, the VSP had open positions for 249 sworn officers. Despite the money being available to pay those salaries, $52 million in budget cuts between 2006 and 2010 held up schools from producing more troopers.

State Police Superintendent Colonel Steven Flaherty said those staffing levels are “putting troopers lives at risk.”

To combat this trend, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) asked state legislators for more money toward trooper schools.

Now, these numbers have improved. A year later, as of Jan. 3, there were 196 vacant field positions. Still, it may be some time before VSP is able to climb out of the hole.

VSP employs 2,012 funded, sworn positions, including troopers, supervisors and special agents.

Corrine Geller, public relations director for the VSP, said that there are currently 80 trooper-trainees in session. The group will graduate March 2.

While those reinforcements will certainly bolster numbers, the VSP loses an average of four members a month to retirement, attrition, or jobs with the federal government or local sheriff’s offices.

Every day that passes is another danger.

“There’s definitely a safety aspect to having this deficit,” Geller said. “There are no partners and sometimes backup can be a county away, or it can be tied up in court or at the jail.”

Revolving door

The VSP took a hit when the economy began to sour, losing troopers to better-paying government or county-level jobs, sometimes even positions outside of law enforcement.
Since then, it’s been an uphill battle for the VSP, as the agency has consistently lacked what they consider an adequate amount of troopers.

Virginia ranked 37 out of 49 states in troopers per capita in a 2008 study of state-level law enforcement agencies.

A 2010 study conducted by VSP shows that local agencies have increased their workforce numbers by anywhere from 8 to 20 percent between 2000 and 2009 to meet population increases. In comparison, VSP’s numbers had increased only 4 percent in that time frame, Geller said.

“It will take at least probably a couple years before we can be fully staffed again,” Geller said.

Part of the problem is the lengthy process of getting state troopers properly trained. Geller said that it generally takes nine months before a new hire can be on the road and out in the field, a substantial investment for VSP.

“That’s why it will take time to get that momentum back,” Geller said. “We’re trying to catch up.”

The VSP, which doesn’t operate off of quotas, also doesn’t receive any money from ticketing drivers, instead going to a state fund.

The lack of troopers on the road may put additional strain on county agencies, including the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

“What I can tell you is we’ve had about 3,000 more calls this year than last year,” Loudoun Sheriff Mike Chapman said. “But I can’t tell you if that’s due to the [state trooper deficit] or a rise in population.”

Chapman said there is always a safety risk when not enough officers are on the road.

“The key to keeping crime low is having people out there,” Chapman said.

For now, the VSP has to make do with what it’s got.

“Our officers work very hard to not let the deficit affect response time,” Geller said. “Especially in Northern Virginia, a crash during rush hour is going to affect a larger number of people than just those involved, because of the traffic. Our officers are doing the best they can.”