Wichita: Expect to see more highway patrol troopers on the road

There will soon be more eyes keeping an eye out for speeding or distracted drivers in the Wichita area.

A class of 43 Kansas Highway Patrol cadets graduated on Thursday from the training academy in Salina. Ten of the new troopers are destined for Troop F, which covers Wichita and south-central Kansas, said Trooper Chad Crittenden, public information officer for the region.

Eight will be assigned to Wichita. Barton and Sumner counties have been assigned one trooper each.

“We are excited to fill many vacant positions,” Crittenden said via social media.

The large class reflects an increased focus on recruitment, buoyed by funding from an increase in vehicle registration fees that was projected to add 75 new troopers over a three-year period and then pay for annual classes of 15 new troopers.

The highway patrol had more than 100 open positions in late 2015, fueled by the retirement of many longtime troopers who weren’t being replaced by fresh recruits.

Just as with new police officers and sheriff’s deputies, the troopers who graduated on Thursday will go through several weeks of field training.

“With more troopers on the road, this will mean that they are more visible and can generate voluntary compliance and response times to calls, accidents and critical incidents will be reduced,” Lt. Adam Winters, public information officer for the highway patrol, said in an e-mail response to questions when the large class began training in July.

This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Wichita: Expect to see more highway patrol troopers on the road."