Grappling with vacancies that ballooned 94% between 2015 and 2023, the agency in 2022 asked for $2 million from the state Legislature to hire more officers and launched a recruitment campaign known as the CHP 1000. In recent years, it also received some of its highest pay raises for officers, securing a 7.9% wage increase in 2023 and a $489-million, three-year labor contract in 2024.
Since those efforts kicked off, the agency hired more than 2,300 officers from 2022 and is on track to increase hiring by more than 60%, reports The Sacramento Bee. Applications also jumped by 52% — from more than 16,000 in 2022 to nearly 25,480 in 2024, according to the agency. This year, the CHP is on track to receive more than 33,000 applications.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a statement: “As we close out the year, California continues to make real progress — strengthening protections across the state while staying focused on the needs of the people we serve.”
The hiring surge comes as the governor is deploying CHP “crime suppression” teams in six California regions, following similar state intervention efforts in 2024 in Oakland, Bakersfield and San Bernardino.
Though Newsom denied the teams were expanded in response to what the Trump administration called a crime crackdown in Democratic-led cities, enforcement activity from San Francisco police has reportedly ramped up due to potential threats of federal intervention.