The following editorial appeared Tuesday in the Olympian newspaper in Olympia.

John Batiste, who begins his fifth month as chief of the Washington State Patrol this week, has broadened the mission of troopers who patrol this state’s highways.

More flexibility is what the troopers and their union wanted, and it is what Batiste is giving them. But will it lead to safer highways? The numbers through the first five months of the year are not encouraging.

Batiste says he has fewer troopers to do the job. Ronal Serpas, who took the helm of the State Patrol in 2001, refocused the mission of the patrol on basic traffic enforcement responsibilities.

His clear direction to troopers was to focus on motorists who were speeding, driving under the influence, driving aggressively and not wearing their seat belts – the so-called four core values of the agency.

In the first year under Serpas, injury collisions dropped by about 7 percent. Seat belt compliance jumped to 93 percent after a new law was enacted by the Legislature. Washington continues to have one of the highest seat belt compliance ratings in the nation.

Serpas and his successor, Lowell Porter … encouraged troopers to increase traffic stops and issue more citations in an effort to reduce traffic injuries and deaths. They were enormously successful. Traffic fatalities in Washington state last year were lower than they have been since 1961 – a huge accomplishment given the number of motorists on the road today and the millions of miles traveled.

But the emphasis on traffic enforcement and the number of citations issued for DUI did not sit well with some troopers. They said the agency was too focused on numbers, not paying enough attention to the other responsibilities expected of them. …

Despite the Patrol’s success in reducing fatalities, Batiste recently announced a shift in the direction for the agency.

He broadened the mission. In addition to focusing on traffic enforcement, he wants troopers to concentrate on investigating collisions, impeding criminal and terrorist acts and providing roadside assistance to motorists. …

Will that result in safer highways and fewer fatalities? The statistics are not encouraging. Comparing stats from January through May of 2004 with the same time frame this year:

•DUI and speeding citations are down.

•Property damage and injury accidents are up.

•Fatalities statewide are down by four, but fatalities on the interstate system, which is the primary responsibility of the Patrol, are up 10 percent. The number of accidents on the freeway system is up 46 percent.

•In 2004, there were no traffic fatalities during the long Memorial Day weekend. This year, seven deaths were recorded. …

Like it or not, Chief Batiste, Assistant Chief Brian Ursino, the troopers and the governor will be judged by numbers – the number of traffic accidents, the number of injuries, the number of fatalities, and whether the roadways are safer under the Gregoire/Batiste administration.