Turnover savings occur when departing sworn officers at higher pay steps on the Virginia State Police (VSP) Sworn Pay Plan are replaced by sworn employees at a lower pay step. Vacancy savings represent the budgetary savings accrued during the period between an employee's departure from the Department and the appointment of their successor.

The Department of State Police realized approximately $1,521,244 in turnover savings and $4,971,018 in vacancy savings for fiscal year 2024 and approximately $1,515,382 in turnover savings and $5,665,361 in vacancy savings for fiscal year 2025. These results reflect the aggregate fiscal impact of sworn officer separations and subsequent replacements under the VSP Sworn Pay Plan.

While the reported savings suggest that turnover savings provide a sustainable offset to the cost of the VSP Sworn Pay Plan(*1), vacancy savings are projected to decrease as vacancies decrease(*2).
_________________________________________________
(*1) The average cost of implementing the annual 1.4% step increase 1s an estimated $3.2 million, excluding statewide pay 1ncreases and other salary adjustments.
(*2) Pursuant to Virginia Code section § 52-6.1, sworn vacancies are generally required to be filled through internal promotions. During periods of high vacancies, this can exacerbate patrol trooper vacancies. The Department mitigates this by limiting the number of positions opened for promotion at any given time. This typically results in extending the period of vacancy by two to six weeks. VSP anticipates that as vacancies decrease, the average time to fill vacant positions will decrease from an average of 3.3 months to approximately two months.