The state trooper's union says New York State Police needs to step up its recruiting efforts and fast.

The Police Benevolent Association calculates that about a thousand troopers have retired since 2015, but only 750 have been hired, creating a gap of about 250 people. At the same time, the governor has directed more personnel to the New York City area to take on new tasks including traffic enforcement and anti-terrorism efforts. Backfilling all those positions takes time, since troopers have to go through extensive training before they start.

PBA President Tom Mungeer joins us to discuss.