RICHMOND – Virginia State Police are making a huge change to their state trooper hiring process.
Until now, any interested trooper applicant had to complete the full, six-month State Police Academy. However, as of Sept. 1, the Department is offering an Accelerated Lateral Entry Program (ALEP) for existing Virginia Department of Criminal Justice certified law enforcement officers.
Candidates must be currently employed by a Virginia law enforcement organization, have at least three years of DCJS-certified law enforcement experience, and be a VCIN Level C Operator.
The training program will be an intense eight-week program “designed to indoctrinate candidates into the State Police culture and instill its standards of integrity, professionalism, self-discipline, pride, valor and excellence in service.”
Applications for the program are being accepted now, with the first Academy class scheduled to begin in April 2018.
“Virginia State Police has not been immune to today’s challenging environment of having to compete with other law enforcement agencies to attract qualified candidates to join its sworn ranks,” said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “Despite the salary increases provided by the Virginia General Assembly this year, State Police continues to struggle to prevent our sworn personnel from leaving for other agencies and then to fill those growing vacancies in a timely manner. Many of our field divisions across the Commonwealth are currently experiencing vacancy rates of nearly 50 percent.”
Candidates selected to participate in the ALEP will be hired to a vacancy in a specific part of the state and compensated at a beginning salary of $48,719. Applicants hired to a vacancy in Northern Virginia will be compensated a beginning salary of $60,587.
