State Police add 40 new troopers on North Shore

DANVERS – Forty newly graduated troopers reported for their first day of duty Tuesday as part of Massachusetts State Police Troop A, whose coverage area includes Lynn and surrounding communities.?They couldn?t have come at a better time,” MSP Major Edward Amodeo said during a photo opportunity with the new troopers at the Danvers State Police barracks.The troopers are part of the State Police?s first graduating class since 2006, he said, and will help Troop A recover from a reduction in staff due to retirements.?Prior to the graduation, the State Police sworn personnel were down about 500 troopers due to normal attrition,” said MSP spokesman David Procopio in a press release. “The new class is the first step toward restoring the personnel strength level.”Amodeo attributed the lack of new troopers to “financial difficulties” that befell the State Police. With the new additions, Troop A will have about 235 sworn personnel, which he said is a step up, but still not a full staff.?We?re very short here but, in three months, they?ll be affecting my staffing as independent troopers,” Amodeo said, “I?m very excited to have them.”The troopers, who graduated last weekend, will still have to go through what Amodeo called “an extremely important phase of training” before they begin patrolling the highways. They will shadow experienced troopers and get hands-on training for about three months before they start patrolling on their own, he said.?They?ve graduated, so the hard part is done,” Amodeo said.Most of the 40 new troopers have been assigned to Troop A because they?re from the area, meaning they are already familiar with the territory, Amodeo said.In all, 208 new troopers will be deployed statewide, Procopio said.Troop A is comprised of barracks in Danvers, Andover, Concord, Newbury, Medford and Revere, and covers a region stretching from the New Hampshire border south through Gloucester, Salem, Peabody, Lynn and Revere, west through Medford and north to the Merrimack Valley.Taylor Provost can be reached at [email protected].