CLEVELAND — Amid the ongoing recruitment challenges faced by law enforcement agencies across the state, the Ohio State Highway Patrol is now allowing and actively recruiting lateral transfers for the first time in the agency’s history. The initiative will allow certified and qualifying officers currently working for other departments to transfer to OSHP without having to retake the 6-month cadet academy.
Prior to the recent recruitment crunch, which had been growing in recent years before the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated it, OSHP would routinely log around 1,700 to 1,800 applicants per year, officials said. Last year, however, the number of applicants shrank to less than 1,200. Through the first four months of the year, Staff Sgt. Sims-Byrd said new applications were beginning to stabilize.
A survey conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police found nearly eight in 10 agencies have reported difficulties with recruiting, and more than six of 10 agencies reported having too few qualified candidates.“Cleveland’s last graduating class was 17 people, but 180 left. Columbus had 31 in their class, but they had 195 leave. Places are offering signing bonuses, referral bonuses. They’re doing whatever they can,” Wolske said.
Under highway patrol’s lateral transfer program, cadets will earn an hourly rate of $31.19 per hour upon graduation, which amounts to a pre-tax annual salary of just under $65,000. Graduates will be placed at a post that is within 50 air miles of their home address.