SPOKANE, Wash. — After 11 years of service with the Washington State Patrol, detective Jordan left his job after the vaccine mandate deadline. He asked to keep his last name anonymous, as he navigates what's next for him and his family.
Jordan did not get vaccinated, and WSP said they could not accommodate his employment. He said not knowing where his next paycheck will come from is scary.
"My biggest fear is not my job or my livelihood but putting food on my kids' table at this point," Jordan said.
He was one of 127 WSP employees statewide who lost their jobs after the deadline. Of those, 10 employees were in the Eastern Washington region. In total, WSP lost 74 commissioned officers and 53 civilian employees.
WSP had to go through a long process before letting go the unvaccinated employees. Initially, 470 of the patrol's over 2,200 employees requested a religious or medical exemption. WSP approved 400 of those exemptions but was only able to accommodate 35 of those exempt employees working.
Chris Loftis, WSP Communications Director, said there were few positions that don't involve contact with the public. The remaining 365 employees had to choose between getting vaccinated or losing their job.
Most of then decided to get vaccinated, but WSP is now left filling the 127 holes in their workforce. Loftis said the department will not be able to immediately fill the positions, because it takes almost a year to train a trooper.
"We're in the business of looking at emerging issues and changing environments. We'll use that skillset to make sure that we move resources appropriately so that the public is not seeing any reduction in service," Loftis said.
WSP has a class of future troopers in the academy now. That 47-cadet class will be fully trained by April 2022, and there are two more classes scheduled. Each of those will train 30 to 60 cadets.
Between the vaccinated and accommodated employees, Loftis said WSP employees are now 94 percent vaccinated.