A class of 43 new state troopers graduated from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy Friday, easing somewhat the shortage at the Highway Patrol. They bring the number of troopers statewide to 780, when the state had 968 in 2008, just before budget cuts caused by the recession.
Highway Patrol commander Col. Mike Oliver says, "A large county may not see a whole lot of difference with just one trooper coming there. But rural South Carolina, the Allendales, the Bambergs, places like that, we may be increasing the size of that county by 20 percent in troopers, so it means a lot to especially rural South Carolina. But 43 spread across South Carolina is a lot of troopers."
He says having more troopers on the roads improves your safety because it allows the Highway Patrol to be more proactive. Instead of just responding to calls, they can focus more on stopping drunken drivers, speeders, and people driving recklessly.
Another class of about 50 cadets will start training in July and will graduate in December, then another class will start in January.
The process is very competitive. For the class of 43 that just graduated, there were 1,160 applicants.