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PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona’s new state budget includes additional money for the Department of Public Safety. Still, troopers say it does not solve one of the agency’s biggest problems: a shortage of personnel on the road.
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The Arizona State Troopers Association said DPS covers all 15 counties, but in many parts of the state, overnight trooper coverage remains limited.
“It means increased response times, the inability to respond when we should,” said Jeff Hawkins, who leads the Arizona State Troopers Association.
Hawkins said DPS has hundreds of vacancies. He said in the Phoenix metropolitan area, troopers’ work is nonstop.
“We have over 400 vacancies,” Hawkins said. “So it’s just here in the Metropolitan Phoenix. It’s call after call after call. And that weighs on after a while.”
Budget includes new DPS funding
DPS will be able to hire more people through an additional $4.75 million grant.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs also signed an $18.3 billion state budget for 2027 this month.
Hawkins said the funding does not fully account for DPS needs, but the total amount is about $480 million.
The budget includes $15 million for vehicle replacements, funding for employee mental health services and money to continue traffic enforcement efforts that DPS says have helped reduce deadly crashes.
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Union says more planning is needed
Hawkins said more needs to be done, including a longer-term plan for DPS staffing and coverage.
“We need a three-, six- or nine-year plan to try to get us to the point where we’re more effective and that the citizens are better protected,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins said that includes funding to replace an aging DPS helicopter and a second helicopter involved in a crash that killed two Aviation Bureau members earlier this year.
“A little disappointed it wasn’t funded this year,” Hawkins said. “For our rural partners, they only have us to call upon if they need search and rescue issues.”
Hawkins said expanding coverage remains one of DPS’s top priorities.
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