Beginning with the 2019-21 Biennial Transportation Budget, the Washington State Patrol (WSP) has been required to report to the Governor and Legislature on the demographic composition of the WSP workforce.  The most recent report showed that the total WSP workforce was 84 percent white and 67 percent male.  The field force workforce was 86 percent white and 86 percent male.

The 2020 Supplemental Transportation Budget included a requirement that the WSP work with the Department of Enterprise Services (DES) and the Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises to contract for a workforce diversity strategic action plan.  That report was delivered to the WSP in April 2021 and provided a comprehensive strategy for improving diversity, equity, and inclusion at the WSP, with a particular focus on workforce recruitment, retention, and training.

The WSP is required to work with the DES, which will run and oversee a competitive procurement to contract for an independent, expert consultant.  The consultant's duties are to:

• collect benchmark data on the demographic composition of the WSP workforce, applicants in the recruitment process, including trooper academy classes and new hires across positions in the agency.  In addition, the consultant must also collect comparative demographic data for other law enforcement training classes within the state;
• conduct a study of the labor force available for the commissioned and non-commissioned staff of the WSP, with a focus on the availability of Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian, and other groups currently underrepresented in the WSP workforce;
• using the results of the labor force availability study, establish benchmark goals for the demographic composition of the WSP workforce;
• evaluate progress in the implementation of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Recruitment and Retention Plan developed for the WSP in 2021;
• provide technical assistance regarding best practices to effectively foster a diverse workforce;
• annually update the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Recruitment and Retention Plan to reflect activities completed, new strategies, and next steps;
• report quarterly to the Governor and appropriate committees of the Legislature on the composition of the current workforce compared to established benchmarks and goals; and
• report annually to the Governor and appropriate committees of the Legislature on the results of the evaluation of progress in implementing the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Recruitment and Retention Plan.

The section requiring the independent, expert consultant expires June 30, 2032.

Funds are appropriated from the State Patrol Highway Account to the WSP for the purposes of the independent consultant contract and to support the costs of the WSP's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office.