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State audit cites FHP inefficiencies
By ALISA ULFERTS
© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 9, 2001
TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Highway Patrol fails to trim costs effectively and has not shown a need for more troopers, according to a state audit.
The auditing arm of the state Legislature released a report this month that said the patrol agency has acted on only one of the suggestions offered by state auditors in a 1999 report.
That report said the FHP could save more than $840,000 by hiring civilians for certain positions. It also said the patrol could save another $830,000 a year through a variety of cost-cutting measures, including changing the dress code to save dry-cleaning costs and giving administrators regular cars rather than pursuit vehicles.
But FHP has followed just one of the suggestions, issuing regular cars to administrators. That saved the agency just $9,159 a year.
A spokesman for FHP said officials still are reviewing the document and couldn't comment.
In the 1999 report, FHP officials agreed that although some of the positions recommended by state auditors could be handled by civilians, others could not.
And although the agency has requested more funding from the state to pay for additional troopers, state auditors noted that there is little evidence to suggest more deputies will add up to fewer accidents or better response times.
Instead, they repeated their 1999 suggestion that FHP conduct a pilot study in one area to see whether additional officers had an effect on crash rates or drunken driving arrests. The Legislature, which denied FHP's request for 108 more positions this year, then could use the data to determine whether more troopers are needed.
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