Faced with tough competition for new recruits, the Indiana State Police will drop its longtime requirement that would-be troopers have at least some college education.
The requirement, which has been in place for more than a decade, requires state police candidates to have either 60 credit hours of college or previous police or military experience. That set the department apart from local agencies that require only a high school diploma.
Starting as early as next year, however, trooper applicants will need only a high school diploma or to pass the general educational development test to apply for the agency.
Superintendent Paul Whitesell said the goal is to increase the number of candidates, especially minorities, who want to work for the agency.
"I still want college-educated officers," Whitesell told The Indianapolis Star for a story yesterday. "I just wasn't getting the numbers that I like. I'm trying to find 60 to 65 people for a recruit class, and sometimes my application pool was only 100. That's not such a good number to draw from."
Although state troopers perform many of the same duties as local police, they are regarded as an elite force that covers highways and requires troopers to have large patrol areas.
Whitesell said that dropping the college requirement won't affect the quality of troopers because potential recruits still will have to go through a 23-week training academy if selected.
For the current recruit class, which graduates in April, Whitesell had 167 qualified candidates to choose from, when he would like to have had several hundred, as in years past. Of those, 154 were men and 13 were women. Eight were minorities.
In the Midwest, education requirements for troopers vary. Troopers and highway patrol officers in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri need a high school diploma to apply.
In Illinois, troopers must have at least an associate's degree. Kentucky State Police require some college or military experience. In Iowa, criminal and drug investigators need college credits, but a high school diploma is sufficient for troopers.
Salaries for Indiana troopers start at $32,760 after a year of experience, and go up to $45,994 after 10 years. But troopers who advance to management ranks can earn more.
Among neighboring states, the starting salary of a Michigan trooper is $45,539; Illinois starts its troopers at $43,356.
Indiana State Police detective Sgt. Keith Gill, a 27-year department veteran, said troopers overwhelmingly support the move.
"I'm in favor of education, but there are also a lot of people who have military or other prior experience that would make them good police officers," Gill said.