newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The New Jersey State Police has announced that for the first time in two years, they will begin accepting applications for as many as 225 trooper positions next month.

The positions will become available when two State Police academy classes begin next spring.

State Police Superintendent Colonel Rick Fuentes said there are a lot of opportunities available. “Homeland security, hometown security, traffic safety, homicide, cyber crimes,” Fuentes said, according to CBS Philly. “There really isn’t too much in the area of criminal science and criminal justice that we don’t cover.”

New Jersey NAACP President James Harris recommends that the State Police hire local police who have been laid off in recent years, many of whom are minorities, to fill the trooper positions. He said greater diversity in the force would help to address racial profiling issues, according to an Associated Press report on philly.com.

Fuentes and state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said the police are making an effort to bring more minorities and women into their ranks. According to AOL Patch, of the current total of 2,745 troopers, 82 percent are white, and only 113 of them are women. Starting salary for a trooper right now is $62,403.60.

Lt. Col. Debra Baker, deputy superintendent of administration, said, "It's not lost on us that the State Police needs to look like they community they serve."

Chiesa said that a number of current troopers are near 25-years in service and expect to retire in the next few years, creating the new opportunities. The state police will be recruiting new candidates over the next two months.

Applications are being taken online between May 7 at 9 a.m. and May 29 at 5:00 p.m. on NJTrooper.com.