(Columbia) July 21, 2003 - When Highway Patrol LCPL Josef Robinson hits the road ready to work, he does so with fewer co-workers backing him up, "Well to say how bad it is, that's pretty much an understatement. We're just having a hard time with manpower."

Budget cuts are shrinking the state Highway Patrol. There's been a 24% drop in Troopers in the last ten years, which is down from an all-time high of more than a 1000 to now around 850.
    
Trooper Robinson says the results are seen on the roads, "We don't have a chance to get out there and patrol like we normally would to try to prevent a lot of accidents. All we can do now, because of manpower shortage, is react to the accidents and just try to go work them."

Troopers are spending less time checking for speeding, monitoring dangerous intersections and watching for drunk drivers. Highway Patrol Colonel Russell Roark says they are also taking longer to respond to calls, "If it is not life threatening, if there's no injury, minimal property damage, no roadway blockage, obviously that call will be placed at lower priority than a call on the interstate."

Robinson says he's now forced to prioritize calls and that sometimes makes him arrive late, which upsets drivers, "They were very angry. Some stated, 'It took you guys over two hours to get here. I've never seen it take you guys so long to get out here and work this collision.'"

Col. Roark worries their lower numbers will ultimately hurt South Carolina drivers, "The lower our numbers go, the higher the violations are apt to go, which results in more crashes, more fatalities."        

The Highway Patrol also has a high turnover rate. That is also blamed on budget cuts, because there's not enough money to raise Troopers' salaries, which are some of the lowest in the southeast.
  
Troopers have asked for patience as they respond to calls with less manpower.

By Catherine Reynolds
Posted 10:33pm by BrettWitt