Indiana State Police to remove college requirement for troopers

INDIANAPOLIS -- Faced with tough competition for new recruits, the Indiana State Police will drop its longtime requirement that would-be troopers have some college education.\nA requirement that's been in place for more than a decade requires state police candidates to have either 60 credit hours of college, or previous police or military experience. That set the department apart from local agencies that require only a high school diploma.\nStarting as early as next year, however, trooper applicants will need only a high school diploma or to pass the general educational development test to apply for the agency.\nState Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell said the goal is to increase the number of candidates, especially minorities, who want to work for the agency.\n"I still want college-educated officers," Whitesell told The Indianapolis Star for a story Monday. "I just wasn't getting the numbers that I like. I'm trying to find 60 to 65 people for a recruit class, and sometimes my application pool was only 100. That's not such a good number to draw from."\nAlthough state troopers perform many of the same duties as local police officers, they are often regarded as an elite force that covers state highways and requires troopers to have large patrol areas.\nWhitesell said that dropping the college requirement won't affect the quality of troopers because potential recruits still will have to go through a 23-week training academy if selected.\nFor the current recruit class, which graduates in April, Whitesell had 167 qualified candidates to choose from, when he said he would like to have had several hundred, as in years past. Of those, 154 were men and 13 were women. Eight were minorities.\nIn the Midwest, education requirements for troopers vary. Troopers and highway patrol officers in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri need a high school diploma to apply.\nIn Illinois, troopers must have at least an associate's degree. Kentucky's state police requires some college or military experience. In Iowa, criminal and drug investigators need college credits, but a high school diploma is sufficient for troopers.\nSalaries for Indiana troopers start out at $32,760 after one year of experience, and work up to $45,994 after 10 years. But troopers who advance to management ranks can earn more.\nIndiana State Police detective Sgt. Keith Gill, a 27-year department veteran, said troopers overwhelmingly support the move.\n"I'm in favor of education, but there are also a lot of people who have military or other prior experience that would make them good police officers," Gill said.