HARTFORD - Governor M. Jodi Rell's call for 100 new troopers over the next five years to crack down on unsafe drivers has renewed debate about how to reach the elusive goal of full State Police staffing.
The number of residents and calls for service have increased in many of the 81 towns where State Police are the primary law enforcement. Yet the number of state troopers is 1,220, short of the mandate of 1,248 set by the General Assembly 10 years ago.
In addition, between 20 and 24 troopers retire each year, potentially eliminating the increased number of 100 new troopers over five years, depending on how large the training classes are.
Steven Rief, president of the State Police union, said Rell's plan is a start, but that the state must bring trooper strength to 1,348, which is 100 more than what state lawmakers mandated.
"In Connecticut, we have lost our ability to enforce laws on the highways because we don't have enough people out there," he said.
Robert Genuario, Rell's chief budget adviser, said the governor is not asking for a new mandatory minimum staffing level of 1,348:
"We have not proposed an increase to the statutory minimum."
Public Safety Commissioner John A. Danaher III said he hopes to reach the mandated number of 1,248 troopers with each training class, and that the state will add 20 more under Rell's plan.
"The 1,248 is a floor. Some people have looked at it as a ceiling," Danaher said. "Down the road, the goal would be 100 over 1,248."
State Senator Edith G. Prague, a Columbia Democrat, called the policy discussion "a numbers game."
"If these troopers are just replacements for those who retire, it's not doing a darn thing," she said.
