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Pennsylvania State Capitol Police | |
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Agency overview | |
Formed | 1895 |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | United States |
Legal jurisdiction | Capitol Complex and state office buildings in Dauphin County, PA, and Scranton, Pennsylvania |
Specialist jurisdiction |
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Operational structure | |
Headquarters | 70E Capitol East Wing, Harrisburg, PA 17125 |
Sworn members | 85 [1] |
Agency executive |
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Facilities | |
Stations | 2 |
Patrol cars | 22 |
Dogs | 5 |
The Pennsylvania State Capitol Police is a section of the Pennsylvania Department of General Services providing law enforcement, security and parking enforcement services to the State Capitol Complex in Harrisburg, and at state government office buildings in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Scranton, Pennsylvania. [2] [3] [4] Their jurisdiction is primarily state owned buildings and property on the Capitol Complex. The Capitol Police jurisdiction extends to several state owned buildings throughout the city of Harrisburg and local townships.
The Pennsylvania State Capitol Police Force was established in 1895 under Governor Daniel Hartman Hastings, the state's 21st Governor. The enactment authorized the Capitol Police as the first Pennsylvania police agency under Commonwealth jurisdiction and the second oldest state police organization in the United States, after the Texas Rangers. [5]
The Capitol Police was initially accredited on July 9, 2005 through the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission (PLEAC) and Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association. In 2024, the Pennsylvania Capitol Police received their sixth re-accreditation. In addition to being re-accredited, the Pennsylvania Capitol Police was awarded the Premier Agency Status by the PA Chiefs of Police.
The Capitol Police received International Accreditation on July 28, 2007, through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). In 2024, the Capitol Police was awarded their sixth award for being re-accredited. CALEA recognized the Pennsylvania Capitol Police for their professional excellence and demonstrating a commitment to being a highly trained police department.
The PSCP has an all-Ford patrol fleet that consists of Police Interceptor Sedans and Police Interceptor Utilitys. The agency's vehicles are both marked and unmarked.
Though not often displayed in pictures, the PSCP also uniquely uses the IWI X95 Israeli bullpup assault rifle as part of their armament, and were previously the first law enforcement agency in the United States to adopt the TAVOR SAR in 2013 before upgrading to the IWI Tavor X95 in July 2017. [6]
The Department has four K-9 Explosive Units trained in the detection of explosives. All delivery vehicles entering the building of the Capital Complex are searched. Also, the Capitol Police Department has a K-9 Narcotics/Patrol unit trained in the detection of drugs as well as for search and rescue operations.
The IWI Tavor, previously designated as the Tavor TAR-21, is an Israeli bullpup assault rifle chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO, designed and produced by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI). It is part of the Tavor family of rifles, which have spawned many derivatives of the original design.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the principal state police agency for the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enforcement powers anywhere within the state. The California Highway Patrol can assist local and county agencies and can patrol major city streets along with local and county law enforcement, state and interstate highways, and is the primary law enforcement agency in rural parts of the state.
The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The Pennsylvania State Police is a full service law enforcement agency which handles both traffic and criminal law enforcement. The Pennsylvania State Police was founded in 1905 by order of Governor Samuel Pennypacker, by signing Senate Bill 278 on May 2, 1905. The bill was signed in response to the Great Anthracite Strike of 1902. Leading up to the Anthracite Strike, private police forces were used by mine and mill owners to stop worker strikes. The inability or refusal of local police or sheriffs' offices to enforce the law directly influenced the signing of Bill 278. The Anthracite Strike lasted from May 15 to October 23, 1902, and was ended with the help of Theodore Roosevelt, the sitting president at the time.
The Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) is the highway patrol agency for the U.S. state of Kansas. While the patrol's primary focus is maintaining the safety of State, Federal and Interstate highways, it also is charged with providing support for county agencies when tactical, aerial or other specialized services are needed. The Kansas Highway Patrol has statewide jurisdiction, and frequently assists other agencies with emergency calls for service.
The Maryland State Police (MSP), officially the Maryland Department of State Police (MDSP), is the official state police force of the U.S. state of Maryland. The Maryland State Police is headquartered at 1201 Reisterstown Road in the Pikesville CDP in unincorporated Baltimore County.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, or Port Authority Police Department (PAPD), is a law enforcement agency in New York and New Jersey, the duties of which are to protect and to enforce state and city laws at all the facilities, owned or operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), the bi-state agency running airports, seaports, and many bridges and tunnels within the Port of New York and New Jersey. Additionally, the PAPD is responsible for other PANYNJ properties including three bus terminals, the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, and the PATH train system. The PAPD is the largest transit-related police force in the United States.
The Louisiana State Police is the state police agency of Louisiana, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state, headquartered in Baton Rouge. It falls under the authority of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is officially known in that organization as the Office of State Police.
The Kentucky State Police (KSP) is a department of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and the official State Police force of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The department was founded in 1948 and replaced the Kentucky Highway Patrol. The department's sworn personnel hold the title State Trooper, and its nickname is The Thin Gray Line.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) or Arizona Highway Patrol (AHP) 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 Missouri State Highway Patrol(MSHP) is the highway patrol agency for Missouri and has jurisdiction all across the state. It is a division of the Missouri Department of Public Safety. Colonel Eric T. Olson has been serving as the 24th superintendent since March 15, 2019.
The Allegheny County Police Department is a law enforcement agency in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The department provides law enforcement services on County property, including the Pittsburgh International Airport, the Allegheny County Airport, and various parks. Between 2017 and 2021, the ACPD was contracted by the borough of Wilmerding. It also provides assistance to all municipal law enforcement agencies in the County, and generally investigates all serious crimes, such as homicide, except in the City of Pittsburgh.
The Virginia Tech Police Department (VTPD) is a nationally accredited police department with jurisdiction over Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The departments original accreditation with CALEA was awarded on November 18, 1995 and the department has continued with re-accreditation. In November 2015, the department met "gold standard" and also won CALEA's "Accreditation with Excellence" award.
The Laurel Police Department (LPD) is a nationally accredited, full-service police department servicing a population of 21,945 persons within 3.8 square miles (9.8 km2) of the municipality of Laurel in the U.S. state of Maryland in Prince Georges County. The LPD also maintains its own emergency communications (dispatch) and temporary prisoner detention facility.
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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 a county’s sheriff, such as enforcing traffic laws on state highways and interstates, overseeing security of state capitol complexes, protecting governors, training new officers for local police forces too small to operate an academy and providing technological and scientific services. They also support local police and help to coordinate multi-jurisdictional task force activity in serious or complicated cases in states that grant full police powers statewide.
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The IWI X95 is an Israeli bullpup assault rifle designed and produced by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) as part of the Tavor rifle family, along with the Tavor TAR and the Tavor 7. IWI US offers the rifle in semi-automatic only configuration as the 'Tavor X95'.
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