Wisconsin State Patrol

Last updated
Wisconsin State Patrol
Wisconsin State Patrol Patch.png
Patch of Wisconsin State Patrol
WisconsinStatePatrol Logo.png
Logo of Wisconsin State Patrol
Agency overview
FormedSeptember 1, 1939;84 years ago (1939-09-01)
Employees615 (as of 2020) [1]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionWisconsin, United States
Size65,498 square miles (169,640 km2)
Population5,757,564 (2014 est)
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters Madison, Wisconsin
Sworn members512 (as of 2020) [2]
Unsworn members141 (as of 2014) [1]
Agency executive
  • Tim Carnahan, Superintendent
Parent agency Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Regions5
Website
wsp.wi.gov

The Wisconsin State Patrol is the state patrol for the state of Wisconsin and is a division of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The Wisconsin State Patrol enforces traffic and criminal laws, oversees the motor carrier safety and weight facilities (SWEFs), inspects and regulates motor carriers, school buses and ambulances, and assists local law enforcement agencies with traffic safety, civil disturbances and disasters (natural and man-made).

Contents

History

Prior to 1939, some statewide enforcement efforts through were made through other government departments. For example, in 1917, the Dairy and Food Department and the Oil Inspection Department were legally authorized to conduct investigations of the licensing and vehicle sale laws. Also, in 1931, the State Highway Administration had personnel dedicated to checking truck traffic and weights.

On September 1, 1939, the Wisconsin legislature passed a statute creating the Motor Vehicle Department, which consisted of three divisions. The new Enforcement Division began with 46 "inspectors" -comprised from five smaller agencies within other departments, to enforce the state motor vehicle code and regulate motor carriers. There were 33 Public Service Commission Transportation Inspectors, 8 Inspection Bureau inspectors and 5 Secretary of State Investigators. Inspectors were paid $180 per month. The new traffic officers were supplied a siren, flashing red lights, police license plates and an official shield for the sides of their personal cars. The state also paid $30.00 a month for gasoline, oil and grease.

State Patrol radio first went on the air February 1, 1943, operating station WIZR on a frequency of 31.5 megahertz. It was able to communicate with the patrol's mobile units, as well as with most of the municipal and county law enforcement short-wave stations.

The Wisconsin State Patrol (WSP) was established the purpose of providing law enforcement services in a rapidly changing transportation environment. Along with that effort, it was recognized from its inception that the WSP would stand ready to provide public safety assistance to local, county and tribal units of government as well as our partner agencies at the state and federal levels. Through the years many changes have been made, but the patrol's goal has always been and will continue to be assisting the motoring public and making Wisconsin's highways safe.

In 2000, the statutory limit for the number of troopers in the state was increased from 375 to 400 (WI ss. 110.07).

The State Patrol currently operates 16 safety and weight enforcement facilities throughout Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin State Patrol Academy at Fort McCoy (Tomah, WI) provides diverse law enforcement training programs for federal, state and local law enforcement officers.

Mission

As stated on its website, the State Patrol provides traffic safety and enforcement services for Wisconsin. Like all highway patrol and state patrol agencies, its primary mission is to enforce the provisions of the Wisconsin Motor Vehicle laws and other laws to prevent crime. State troopers and inspectors have statewide jurisdiction for traffic and criminal enforcement.

These are the services provided statewide by the agency:

Troopers typically patrol an assigned geographic area along key travel corridors like interstates and other multi-lane freeways. Their primary duties are to ensure safe traffic movement, respond to crashes or other incidents, assist stranded motorists and local law enforcement agencies.

Inspectors, along with traffic enforcement duties, receive additional training regarding federal motor carrier rules that impact commercial motor vehicles and CMV drivers. Inspectors often work out of one of the State Patrol's 13 Safety and Weight Enforcement Facilities (SWEFs) across the state. SWEFs at key state border locations incorporate modern technologies such as weigh-in-motion devices and indoor inspection bays that enhance public safety and the efficient movement of commerce.

The State Patrol maintains and manages the facilities of the Mobile Data Communications Network (MDCN), a system that supports remote access to information available from the United States Department of Justice. The service is provided free of charge to allied criminal justice agencies in Wisconsin. [3]

Training

A training academy was established in 1955 to offer formal education instructions in partnership with the Northwestern University Traffic Institute. Since 1957, the agency has been training its recruits with its own staff. The Wisconsin State Patrol Academy, in Fort McCoy, sits on 50 acres (200,000 m2) and is used to train State Patrol recruits but also some county and local law enforcement agencies personnel on the latest techniques in traffic law enforcement.

Training for recruits currently lasts 26 weeks in a paramilitary setting. Fort McCoy itself is a military installation run by the United States Army.

Prior to joining the academy, recruits must pass several phases during initial testing. Those phases include a physical agility test, a background investigation, an interview, and a psychological/medical exams. [4]

Today not only State Patrol officers, but county and municipal law enforcement officers are being trained in the latest techniques of traffic law enforcement at the patrol's training academy facilities at Fort McCoy.

The State Patrol today

The State Patrol became part of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in the 1960s, and was designated a DOT division in 1977. In 2003, the Bureau of Transportation Safety was incorporated into the State Patrol.

In 2005 the State Patrol reorganized and went from seven districts to five regions. [5]

  1. Southwest Region DeForest and Tomah Posts
  2. Southeast Region Waukesha Post
  3. Northeast Region Fond du Lac Post
  4. North Central Region Wausau Post
  5. Northwest Region Eau Claire and Spooner Posts

The central office is located within the Hill Farms State Office Building in Madison.

The Bureau of Field Operations (BFO) provides traffic law enforcement services and promotes highway safety in Wisconsin. This is primarily accomplished by troopers, inspectors, and law enforcement dispatchers located in Wisconsin State Patrol Posts and Safety and Weight Enforcement Facilities statewide. The Motor Carrier Enforcement section oversees motor carrier safety and weight facilities (SWEFs), and inspects and regulates motor carriers, school buses and ambulances. The bureau also enforces criminal and traffic laws, conducts criminal highway interdiction programs, and helps local law enforcement agencies with traffic safety, civil disturbances and disasters (natural and man-made).

Specialized Services within the Wisconsin State Patrol Bureau of Field Operations include: a K9 unit, with K9s certified in narcotics detection and explosive substance detection; an Honor Guard unit; an Air Support Unit with pilots and aircraft (including unmanned drones) strategically spread throughout the state; a Mobile Field Force unit; a motorcycle unit; a SWAT team that is able to rapidly deploy when needed; and a Technical Reconstruction Unit for investigation of particularly serious crashes.

The State Patrol uses marked [6] and unmarked vehicles, as well as motorcycles and airplanes, to perform its mission.

Since 2020, troopers have been armed with the Glock 17 9mm pistol [2] as their standard issue sidearm which replaced the Glock 22 .40 S&W issued in the mid-2000s, and the Ruger P-series 9mm pistols prior to. In the late 1980s the WSP began fielding the Ruger P-85 which they carried until the early 1990s when they chose the newer Ruger P-89 which was replaced by the Glocks. Prior to the semi-automatic pistols the patrol carried the Smith & Wesson Model 66 service revolvers. All troopers also carry M4-style rifles.

Strength

As of 2020, Wisconsin had 512 troopers and inspectors, including first line supervisors and executive management, according to data provided by the Wisconsin State Patrol. [7]

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Wisconsin State Patrol, there have been eight line of duty deaths. [8] [9] [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alaska State Troopers</span> State police agency of the U.S. state of Alaska

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 that 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan State Police</span> The state police agency for the state of Michigan

The Michigan State Police (MSP) is the state police agency for the U.S. state of Michigan. The MSP is a full-service law enforcement agency, with its sworn members having full police powers statewide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Highway Patrol</span> Law enforcement agency in Florida, United States

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is a division of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. It is Florida's highway patrol and is the primary law enforcement agency charged with investigating traffic crashes and criminal laws on the state's highways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland State Police</span> Official state police force of the U.S. state of Maryland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Carolina Highway Patrol</span> South Carolina state law enforcement agency

The South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebraska State Patrol</span> Law enforcement agency in Nebraska, USA

The Nebraska State Patrol is Nebraska's only statewide full-service law enforcement agency. Serving Nebraska since 1937, State Patrol troopers perform a wide variety of duties. Those include working with communities to improve public safety, enforcing traffic laws and drug laws, investigating crimes, and enforcing the laws and regulations pertaining to motor carriers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia State Police</span> State police force for Virginia, US

The Virginia State Police, officially the Virginia Department of State Police, conceived in 1919 and established in 1932, is the state police force for the U.S. state of Virginia. The agency originated out of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles as an inspector and enforcer of highway laws. It is currently one of fourteen agencies within the Cabinet Secretariat of Public Safety, under the leadership of Secretary Brian Moran until his resignation in January 2022. On January 18, 2018, Gary T. Settle was sworn in as Superintendent of the Virginia State Police. Colonel Settle replaced retiring Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, who had served since 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma Highway Patrol</span> Law enforcement agency

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado State Patrol</span>

The Colorado State Patrol(CSP) (originally known as the Colorado State Highway Courtesy Patrol), based in Lakewood, Colorado, is a division of the Colorado Department of Public Safety, and is one of the official state patrol agencies of Colorado, along with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Colorado Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control (DFPC), and Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM). Additionally, the Executive Director's Office supports operations of the five divisions and houses the Colorado School Safety Resource Center (CSSRC) and Colorado Integrated Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS). The CSP primarily enforces traffic laws on interstates and state highways and guards the state capitol and the Governor of Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia State Patrol</span> Highway patrol agency for Georgia, United States

The Georgia State Patrol (GSP) was established in March 1937 in the U.S. state of Georgia and is a division of the Georgia Department of Public Safety. It is the primary state patrol agency for the U.S. state of Georgia. Although focused primarily on the enforcement of traffic laws and investigation of traffic crashes, the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) supports the efforts of all public safety agencies to reduce criminal activity, apprehend those involved, and respond to natural and manmade disasters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maine State Police</span> State police agency

The Maine State Police (MSP) is the state police agency for Maine, which has jurisdiction across the state and was created in 1921.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippi Highway Patrol</span> State police agency for the US state of Mississippi

The Mississippi Highway Patrol is the highway patrol and acting state police agency for the U.S. state of Mississippi, and has law enforcement jurisdiction over the majority of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Carolina State Highway Patrol</span> Highway patrol agency for North Carolina, US

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. The primary mission of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol is to ensure safe and efficient transportation on the streets and highways, reduce crime, protect against terrorism, enforce motor vehicle laws, and respond to natural and man-made disasters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tennessee Highway Patrol</span> State Patrol organization for the U.S. state of Tennessee

The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) is the State Patrol organization for the U.S. state of Tennessee, responsible for enforcing all federal and state laws relating to traffic on the state's federal and state highways. The agency was created to protect the lives, property, and constitutional rights of people in Tennessee. The THP is a division of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohio State Highway Patrol</span>

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety and has the primary responsibility of traffic enforcement in the U.S. state of Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Department of Public Safety</span>

The Georgia Department of Public Safety (GDPS) is a state body that is responsible for statewide law enforcement and public safety within the U.S. state of Georgia. The current Commissioner of the department is William W. Hitchens, who is also Colonel of the Georgia State Patrol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland Transportation Authority Police</span>

The Maryland Transportation Authority Police is the eighth-largest law enforcement agency in the U.S. state of Maryland and is charged with providing law enforcement services on Maryland Transportation Authority highways and facilities throughout the Maryland, in addition to contractual services that are provided at Baltimore–Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, and the Port of Baltimore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State police (United States)</span> Police department of a U.S. state

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas Highway Police</span> State highway in Arkansas, United States

Arkansas Highway Police is a state police division of the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The Arkansas Highway Police is responsible for enforcing motor vehicle laws, traffic laws, and commercial vehicle enforcement. It is the second-largest state law enforcement agency in Arkansas after the Arkansas State Police. It was founded in 1929 and is the oldest law enforcement agency in Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Columbia Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement</span>

British Columbia Commercial Vehicle Safety & Enforcement is a provincial law enforcement agency that is responsible for the compliance and enforcement of the commercial transport sector, protection of the environment and transportation infrastructure of British Columbia, increasing road safety and protecting the motoring public.

References

  1. 1 2 USDOJ Bureau of Justice Statistics Census of Law Enforcement Agencies
  2. 1 2 "ANNUAL REPORT 2019 Wisconsin State Patrol" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  3. Purpose of the Mobile Data Communication Network
  4. Hiring process with the Wisconsin State Patrol
  5. "Wisconsin State Patrol office locations" . Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  6. "Wisconsin State Patrol". Wisconsin Public Safety Photo Library. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  7. "Wisconsin State Patrol History". wsp.wi.gov.
  8. "Wisconsin State Patrol memoriam". Wisconsin State Patrol. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  9. "Wisconsin State Patrol, WI". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP).
  10. "Wisconsin State Patrol, WI". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP). Retrieved 2021-11-19.

Further reading