Troopers State Case For Salary Increase

Provided

The president of the Oklahoma State Troopers Association released the following statement after dozens of state troopers visited the state Capitol to thank Senate and House members for their support of a salary increase for Oklahoma Highway Patrol members, and to urge legislative leaders to place the increase in the budget this year.

OSTA president and OHP trooper Keith Barenberg said, “Although the budget agreement announced last week by legislative leaders and Governor Fallin did not include a much-needed salary increase for members of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the men and women of the OHP wanted to personally express their gratitude and appreciation to members of the legislature who unanimously supported (90-0 in House, 44-0 in Senate) the salary increase contained in HB 2145. The response this morning from lawmakers was again overwhelmingly supportive. The morale of troopers is extremely low and without an equitable compensation package, the OHP will continue to struggle to recruit cadets and retain existing troopers.  OHP troopers have the 2nd lowest average salary among Oklahoma’s six bordering states and our training academies simply do not produce enough cadets to offset those lost to higher salaried law enforcement positions, the private sector and retirement. OHP is already at a 22-year low in the number of troopers serving our 77 counties resulting in troopers patrolling multiple counties alone creating extremely dangerous situations and increased response time.  The legislature has demonstrated their support.  We urge the legislative leadership and governor to do the same within the remaining weeks of the legislative session. Public safety is a core function of state government, and the OHP will continue to work 24 hours-per-day to ensure the citizens of Oklahoma and visitors to our state are protected.”


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  1. Steve Long, 09 May, 2013

    Anybody that knows me knows that I am a huge advocate for limited government and controlling the spending of the government.

    I think that in many cases, most cases unfortunately, the government tends to spend way more than it needs to and it fails to provide its core functions because it is too involved in other areas of spending. Bottom line, government, and our state government is no exception, spends too much money on non-essential functions.

    Raising the salaries for state troopers, however, I can support. Public safety IS a core function of the government and I believe that these men (and woman) that put their lives on the line for our safety everyday deserve to be rewarded for their diligence.

    I believe that if our state legislature does not allow for salary increases for these brave men (and women) in favor of increasing spending in other areas, they are being poor stewards of the taxpayer’s money.

  2. OHP Left Out To Dry In New Budget | Otter Limits, 09 May, 2013

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