A highway patrol, or state patrol is either a police unit created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways, or a detail within an existing local or regional police agency that is primarily concerned with such duties. They are also referred to in many countries as traffic police, although in other countries this term is more commonly used to refer to foot officers on point duty who control traffic at junctions.
Fire police are fire brigade/company members who, based upon their jurisdictional authority, receive sworn police powers, special training, and support firefighting efforts at emergency incidents. In addition to securing firefighting equipment, incident and fire scenes, and the station itself, fire police perform traffic and crowd control. In some jurisdictions, fire police are exterior firefighters and may be called upon at fire scenes to perform any of the duties of an interior firefighter except those that require a self-contained breathing apparatus. On occasion, fire police also assist regular police: they perform road closures, traffic control, crowd control at public events, missing persons searches, parade details, salvage, security, and other miscellaneous tasks as requested.
The Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas, commonly known as the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), is a department of the state government of Texas. The DPS is responsible for statewide law enforcement and driver license administration. The Public Safety Commission oversees the DPS. However, under state law, the Governor of Texas may assume command of the department during a public disaster, riot, insurrection, formation of a dangerous resistance to enforcement of law, or to perform his constitutional duty to enforce law. The commission's five members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate, to serve without pay for staggered, six-year terms. The commission formulates plans and policies for enforcing criminal, traffic and safety laws, preventing and detecting crime, apprehending law violators, and educating citizens about laws and public safety.
The Alaska State Troopers, officially the Division of Alaska State Troopers (AST), is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a division of the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS). The AST is a full-service law enforcement agency which handles both traffic and criminal law enforcement. The AST is also involved in apprehending fugitives as part of the Alaska Fugitive Task Force, an inter-agency collaborative of Alaska police departments that cooperates with police agencies throughout the United States, and less commonly with Interpol in apprehending wanted men and women. Unlike many lower-48 states, the AST also serves as Alaska’s primary environmental law enforcement agency; troopers assigned to the AST’s Division of Alaska Wildlife Troopers are known as “Alaska Wildlife Troopers” and primarily serve as game wardens, although they retain the same powers as other Alaskan state troopers.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol is the highway patrol agency for South Carolina, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state except for federal or military installations. The Highway Patrol was created in 1930 and is an organization with a rank structure similar to the armed forces. The mission of the South Carolina Highway Patrol includes enforcing the rules and regulations in order to ensure road way safety and reducing crime as outlined by South Carolina law. The Highway Patrol is the largest division of the South Carolina Department of Public Safety and its headquarters is located in Blythewood. This department also includes the South Carolina State Transport Police Division, and the South Carolina Bureau of Protective Services.
The Nevada State Police (NSP), also known as the Nevada Department of Public Safety (DPS) from roughly 1949 to 2021, is the state police and highway patrol agency of Nevada, with state-wide jurisdiction. The Nevada State Police also encompass the Division of Parole and Probation, the Capitol Police Division, the Division of Investigations, the Office of Professional Responsibility, the Fire Marshall Division and the Records, Compliance and Communications Division as well as various other smaller entities.
The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), formerly known as the Metro-Dade Police Department (1981–1997), Dade County Public Safety Department (1957–1981), and the Dade County Sheriff's Office (1836–1957), is a county police department serving Miami-Dade County. The MDPD has approximately 4,700 employees, making it the largest police department in the southeastern United States and the eighth largest in the country. The department is still often referred by its former name, the Metro-Dade Police or simply Metro.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) is a major state law enforcement agency of the government of Oklahoma. A division of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, the OHP has traffic enforcement jurisdiction throughout the state. OHP was legislatively created on July 1, 1937, due to the growing problem of motor vehicle collisions, the expansion of highway systems, and the increase in criminal activities.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) is a state-level law enforcement agency with a primary function of patrolling and enforcing state laws on Arizona highways. Their headquarters are in Phoenix.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) is the highway patrol agency for North Carolina which has no per-se "state police" agency. The Patrol has jurisdiction anywhere in the state except for federal or military installations and on the Cherokee Indian Reservation or on Cherokee outlying lands in the western mountains. NCSHP personnel at times conduct formations, inspections, honor guard activities. Troopers have a reputation in North Carolina for immaculate uniform and grooming standards. The primary mission of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol is to ensure safe and efficient transportation on the streets or highways, reduce crime, protect against terrorism, and respond to natural and man-made disasters.
Airport police units are a security police agency assigned to perform law enforcement functions at airports. They provide a wide range of law enforcement duties and responsibilities including patrol, investigation, traffic flow management, and control and response to airport emergencies. Airport police provide enhanced safety to airport employees, and to passengers. Officers can be found at security gates, throughout the terminal area, and around the airport’s perimeter.
The Pentagon Police Division (PPD) is the uniformed division of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA).
In the United States, a sheriff is the chief of law enforcement of a county. Sheriffs are usually either elected by the populace or appointed by an elected body.
The Gaston County Police Department is a law enforcement agency of Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. It is the only county police department within the State of North Carolina.
The Department of Public Safety of the State of Missouri, commonly known as the Missouri Department of Public Safety (DPS), is a department of the state government of Missouri.
In the United States, the state police is a police body unique to each U.S. state, having statewide authority to conduct law enforcement activities and criminal investigations. In general, state police officers or highway patrol officers, known as state troopers, perform functions that do not fall within the jurisdiction of the county sheriff, such as enforcing traffic laws on state highways and interstate expressways, overseeing the security of the state capitol complex, protecting the governor, training new officers for local police forces too small to operate an academy and providing technological and scientific services. They support local police and help to coordinate multi-jurisdictional task force activity in serious or complicated cases in those states that grant full police powers statewide.
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Public Safety is a law enforcement agency and firefighting agency of the Northern Mariana Islands. It is one of the CNMI executive agencies, and as of 2015 its commissioner is Robert A. Guerrero.
In South Carolina, a State Constable is a law enforcement officer who is either a uniformed or plainclothes law enforcement officer employed by one of the departments of the state government, a retired police officer, or a volunteer reserve police officer. Officers may be variously described as "State Constable", "Special State Constable", "Department of Public Safety (DPS) Special Constable" and "Magistrates' Constable". State Constables are appointed by the Governor of South Carolina, and regulated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
