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SANDY—Committed long-term to Operation Rio Grande, Utah Highway Patrol was busy Friday evaluating recruits as it attempts to hire 60 new troopers by next April.
Of the 60 openings, Col. Michael Rapich said 40 positions would be used to cover the road responsibilities of the troopers who were assigned to the ongoing operation in Salt Lake City.
“We’ve pulled out of the field to place down there, and we need to replace those,” Rapich said.
Among the 43 applicants undergoing physical fitness tests Friday morning was Mike Ellsworth, the brother of late Trooper Eric Ellsworth, who was struck by a car last November while attempting to slow down traffic around a sagging power line.
“We actually talked about it a couple weeks before his accident and I was ready to go,” Mike Ellsworth said. “I wanted to work out there with him, whether it be Brigham City, a cop — I just wanted to help him kind of guide me along in law enforcement.”
The deadly collision left the family devastated.
“He was everything to me,” Ellsworth said. “Everything he did I wanted to do.”
Ellsworth said he exceeded his own expectations during Friday’s fitness tests, and he was committed to staying the course and becoming a trooper.
Troopers must also undergo interviews, written tests and a detailed background investigation before receiving a conditional offer for hire.
“That’s how they find the best,” Ellsworth smiled. “They’ve helped me and my family so much and it’s genuinely an honor.”
UHP is seeking a large volume of candidates to fill the 60 trooper positions.
Historically, only about one in 10 applicants end up meeting the qualification requirements.
Lt. Todd Royce said the hiring process had been streamlined recently, and what used to take 8 or 9 months now takes roughly 90 days.
“Our stated goal is from the time someone applies until we can actually give them a conditional job offer is 90 days,” Rapich explained. “We don’t always make that. Sometimes we’re closer to 100. We do everything we can.”
The department has also decreased the size of recruitment classes and increased the frequency, Royce said.
Officials were hopeful UHP could reach its hiring goals by next spring.
Royce said anybody interested applying is being asked to fill out an application at the Utah Highway Patrol website.
Ellsworth said he hoped to simply follow in the footsteps of his brother and father, who was also a trooper.
“I respect the highway patrol so much, especially after everything they’ve done for us,” Ellsworth said. “It’s just the best agency around.” Andrew Adams is a multi-media journalist for KSL NewsRadio and KSL-TV. His work also regularly appears in the Deseret News. Email: aadams@ksl.com
