Indiana State Police accepting applications for Recruiting Academy

SELLERSBURG, Ind. (WAVE) - Many areas across the country are struggling to find more Police Officers to fill open positions.

The Indiana State Police is hoping for an important change to bring in more recruits.

The possibility of a starting pay increase makes Indiana State Police Sellersburg District Sgt. Carey Huls smile.

“It makes life a lot easier raising a family when you don’t have to worry about how much is coming in,” Sgt. Huls said.

Right now, the salary for a first year Indiana State Police trooper is $53,690.

Gov. Eric Holcomb’s proposal would bump that up to $70,000.

It comes at a time when law enforcement agencies across the United States are struggling with staffing.

Sgt. Huls said this pay increase could give them an extra boost over other departments.

“It is kind of, I don’t want to say a battle, we’re not fighting against each other,” Sgt. Huls said. “We’re all on the same team, but we all have our numbers that we need to fill as far as having an adequate number of officers out there on the road.”

Last December’s academy was a record-low with only 10 troopers graduating.

Compare that to 2007, when the Indiana State Police had one of the largest graduating classes ever with 121 recruits. A big change in just 15 years.

The Indiana State Police is now looking to fill 150 openings across the Hoosier state.

“That can be sometimes a stretch to get people some place quickly when we need to,” Sgt. Huls said. “We would like to have more officers to make that time even less, and to have backup for officers, backup for other departments because a lot of our job is assisting other agencies, especially smaller, rural community that only has one or two officer period. We’re there to help them not just with manpower, but with all the things that we can odder like crime scene investigators, lab services, those kinds of things.”

Sgt. Huls is hoping the possible pay increase will bring in more applications before the next academy starts.

Anyone interested in applying to be an Indiana State Police Trooper needs to submit there application by Thursday April 27.

Applicants must pass a physical ability test to move on to the Academy.

The closest physical ability test is on March 25 at Henryville High School.

The academy begins on July 9.

You can learn more about the application process by clicking here.

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