State highway patrol shortage impacting coverage in Mecklenburg County

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Drivers in Mecklenburg County may not be as protected as they should be, because the North Carolina Highway Patrol is facing a shortage of troopers.

Currently, the state highway patrol has less than 1,400 troopers to cover the entire state. Mecklenburg County, one of the largest in the state, is allotted 38 officers. But because of the shortage only 32 officers are currently assigned to the county.

“We know that with a decrease in manpower, that does bring about challenges related to us getting to calls,” Sgt. Chris Knox said.

Knox has been with the highway patrol for 20 years. He travels on Interstate 77 with his family regularly, and when he saw videos of street racers blocking ramps to do burnouts on the road, it made him angry.

State troopers did respond to the racing incident, but it took a while for officers to get to the scene.

“We’ve got to be there and be in the right places at the right time,” he said. “Like that night in question, I think we had several people at the jail that had arrested impaired drivers.”

Knox told Channel 9 anchor John Paul that the department is concerned about the shortage.

“Manpower dictates most conversations that we have. We know that we can’t serve the public to the best of our ability if we don’t fill the allocations that we have in place now,” Knox said.

Channel 9 discovered several reasons for staff shortages, such as the national climate after police officer-involved shootings and pay.

But state Rep. Caroline Logan thinks the current allotment for Mecklenburg County isn’t enough.

Logan served as a trooper for 30 years before retiring in 2007. She said there were more troopers serving Mecklenburg County back then than there are now.

“I have served the people of this state all of my life, and our job is to make sure that we take care of the people of this state. And right now, the people of Mecklenburg County and the people passing through Mecklenburg County are not being served properly,” she said.

Logan said she doesn’t understand why the number of troopers in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County has been reduced when there are at least 50 troopers assigned to neighboring Wake County.

“No one should have to sit and wait for hours for the highway patrol to arrive at a crash scene or anything,” she said.

Recently, Logan introduced a bill to put Mecklenburg County on par with Wake County, allotting 50 troopers instead of 38.

She said it would help with response times and crime. But so far, the bill hasn’t made much progress.

Knox said no matter how many officers are allotted to the county, the challenge of filling those jobs remains.

“It’s hard to convince people that what they might hear is not true, and that the actions of one do not represent the character and the trustworthiness of a collective career,” he said.

“We need more people. We hope to get more people.”

(WATCH: Drivers caught on camera blocking I-77, performing burnouts, stunts)

Drivers caught on camera blocking I-77, performing burnouts, stunts

Cox Media Group