When it comes to recruiting new troopers to Utah’s Highway Patrol, the mantra is “One out of 40 ain’t bad.”
It’s the reality for Utah Commissioner of Public Safety Jess Anderson, whose agency is only able to hire one out of every 40 applicants as they try to fill 125 open trooper positions. Astonishingly, that rate is an improvement when just a few years ago, during the height of the pandemic, the ratio was roughly 50:1.
“It comes down to bad decisions that clash with our high standards,” said Commissioner Anderson.
Past troubles with the law, drugs, and addiction issues are a few of the reasons applicants are failing background checks and being denied nationwide. It’s even more difficult in Utah where visible tattoos and facial hair beyond a mustache are also immediate disqualifiers for trooper roles.
“Are we missing out on good recruits because of this? Well, if you hire the wrong person because you’ve lightened the standards, you open yourself to elevated risk.”
Why not relax standards? Anderson says recruits with a problematic past are more prone to make the type of mistakes that expose agencies to expensive lawsuits and legal challenges.
“It’s my job to protect the state and tax dollars from frivolous lawsuits,” he said.
Additionally, Anderson says recruits hired under lax policies rarely pan out.
“The loose standard folks won’t make it in the long term and that comes at a significant cost to agencies,” he said.
In Utah, for example, Commissioner Anderson says it costs about $200,000 to recruit, hire, train, and outfit a trooper before they’re allowed to go solo on patrol—a process he says takes about a year. And as budgets tighten, Anderson says he can’t take the risk of recruits leaving within the first few years with such a significant investment of time and citizen dollars.
The problem isn’t just finding qualified recruits. Anderson says veteran troopers are being lured into the private sector by high-paying jobs while others are seeking significantly less risky roles in law enforcement.
Regardless of where they’re working, officers are seeing a disturbing change in how they’re being perceived. According to a Gallup poll, 51 percent of Americans have confidence in the police, up 7 percent from 2023. It’s even lower among Black Americans, where approval ratings were below 20 percent in 2020, according to Police Chief Magazine. This decline in trust often coincides with high profile cases of excessive use of force, misconduct, and criminal activities.
Utah’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) has responded by addressing disparities, bias, and trust in the training required to earn certification.
“We are purposefully policing our own and pulling bad apples out of the barrel, but societal norms have changed,” he said. “Criticism of law enforcement has morphed into challenges of authority, non-compliance has increased, and the frequency and intensity of these critical incidents has exponentially gone up in the last few years. It really induces a lot of stress on patrol officers and troopers.”
This added stress is causing its own unique crisis throughout policing. According to 2021 report published in the National Library of Medicine, law enforcement officers face a 54 percent higher risk of dying by suicide than the general public. A report released in March of 2024 shows that only 17 percent of officers sought help for PTSD and another 7 percent sought help for other mental health issues.
“We’re making sure they have someone to talk to,” said Anderson, whose department recently increased mental health and wellness resources.
These additional resources are part of an aggressive strategy aimed at recruiting and retaining the best troopers. With the help of the legislature, DPS has increased compensation and bonus pay and is offering educational reimbursement, along with career and personal development courses.
Anderson hopes that this will lure more recruits to Utah to help his efforts in reducing aggressive homelessness, addressing the fentanyl epidemic, curbing violent crime, and protecting citizens across the state.
“I have to ensure that everyone is safe and can rest at night and they’re not fearful of being harmed. That’s a big lift.”
