MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Look for more Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers on the streets. Governor Bill Lee announced Wednesday morning that 200 new troopers are now on the force.

Two years ago, Tennessee started pushing money toward keeping roadways safer. Gov. Lee stopped in Memphis Wednesday morning to tout how the investment has paid off — 200 additional troopers hired over two years.

“We have invested in pay for our troopers to make certain that we attract and retain the best and brightest in law enforcement in Tennessee,” Lee said.

He said that investment gave Tennessee state troopers the highest pay of surrounding states — $65,000 plus a $10,000 bonus for those in Shelby County.

Having more patrol officers offers relief to Memphis Police, who work closely with THP on enforcing speeding and reckless driving laws.

“We all know that our police department is short on officers. So this is coming at a perfect time,” said Mayor Jim Strickland.

“The troopers are in one spot, which frees my guys to be in another spot. So it multiplies where we are, and that helps a bigger group of people to slow down, and we do more traffic enforcement in a bigger realm,” said Commander Marcus Worthy with the Memphis Police Traffic Division.

Gov. Lee also announced they have a new THP cadet class with 1,000 applicants compared to the usual 300, with 100 of those applicants from Shelby County.