The Idaho State Police is struggling to hire troopers in North Central Idaho. Earlier this week, it announced it was extending a deadline to apply for an open position.
At full capacity, District 2 in Lewiston should have 21 troopers on staff. Right now, it has four.
The agency has been slowly losing staff to retirement and promotions but recently, many troopers have also moved to Washington State Police, which offers more competitive salaries only a few miles down the road.
“We've lost more than half of our force just in the last year,” said Sergeant Travis Hight in Lewiston. “Part of our problem is we're also the smallest district, we are allotted the fewest number of troopers."
To fill the gap, the agency receives help from other districts.
“Every week we have a trooper come from a different part of the state to come help our region out, because our region is the one most decimated by the loss of troopers,” he said.
The district currently has ten job openings but has received very few applications.
“It will take some time for us to get enough troops and then get them trained to where we're back to strength. And I don't know how many years it will take,” he said. “To start that process, we first need to get qualified applicants that we can train.”
In a press release, ISP said potential candidates had to complete “a written exam, physical fitness test, oral interview, background investigation, and medical and psychological evaluations.”
ISP is accepting applications until Oct. 17. The next training academy will start in January.
