The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety lifted Thursday a 100 mile daily driving limit on Highway Patrol troopers across the state.
The limit was put in place in December in response to midyear budget cuts. DPS lifted it after the 2018 state budget became official.
"What that mile restriction did is it made us more of a reactive force. Now we can be proactive, where we can go out and we can look for these distracted drivers and, ultimately, reduce crashes, which is what our goal is," said Trooper Dwight Durant.
That will make a big difference in rural Oklahoma. Durant said there’s often one trooper covering the panhandle, for instance.
"He could easily eat up his 100 mile allowance in one call," Durant said. "After you take that into consideration and then you expect him to go out there and patrol up and down the interstates and the highways out there, it's not going to happen."
It was also recently announced the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority would pay for a 30 cadet academy in January. Durant said that will just keep OHP treading water, though.
"Because, of that 790 that we have now, 26 percent of them are eligible to retire at any moment," Durant said. "So, by the time these 30 cadets get out on their own, we will have already lost probably that many."
OHP needs 950 troopers to be in full service. At 750, they would start pulling troopers from special details and units, like lake patrol.
