Not so sure why so many are so concerned about certification? The reality is Auxiliary Troopers are here to 'support' the FHP mission. Would anyone argue it is better to have an Auxiliary Trooper sit with a young mother with infant children on the interstate till help arrives, rather than a full time trooper? When a full time trooper gets out of his/her car on a traffic stop (10-50) and the driver looks in the mirror to see "2 uniforms officers", don't you think he/she may think twice before doing something stupid? There have been many times when I have directed traffic while my 'partner' investigated the crash. Recently one of our A/men on LSP stopped a driver clearly out of control of her car and headed toward two troopers on traffic stops. She was arrested and charged with DUI. Had he not been there we may be attending another funeral like the one for Trooper Chelsea Richard today. People should stop comparing FHP with FHPA and focus on the positive impact the FHPA has on the FHP and the community. Current A/men have the same complete 'testing' phase as a full time applicant and 320 hours of ABRC. Including 80 hours of Firearms, 80 hrs of DT and much more. They don't get the training that pertains to what they don't do. i.e. Traffic investigation, that comes with Level 4 -- an additional 40 hours classroom and 160 hours FTO.