Colorado State Patrol
| Colorado State Patrol | |
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| Abbreviation | CSP |
Patch of the Colorado State Patrol
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Logo of the Colorado State Patrol
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Badge of the Colorado State Patrol
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | September 23, 1935 |
| Preceding agency | Colorado State Highway Courtesy Patrol |
| Employees | 1108 (as of 2016) |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of Colorado, USA |
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| Colorado State Police Districts | |
| Size | 104,185 square miles (269,840 km2) |
| Population | 5,456,574 (2015 est.) |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Lakewood, Colorado |
| Agency executive | Colonel Scott Hernandez, Chief |
| Parent agency | Colorado Department of Public Safety |
| Facilities | |
| Districts | 6 |
| Website | |
| https://www.colorado.gov/csp | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
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 police agencies of Colorado, along with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and several smaller state agencies. The CSP primarily enforces traffic laws on interstates and state highways, guards the state capitol and the Governor of Colorado, and has statewide general law enforcement jurisdiction.
Founded in 1935 with only 44 men, it was one of only four law enforcement agencies serving in Colorado at the time. Since two-way radios weren't installed until 1949, officers usually received calls by visiting local gas stations. After dispatchers telephoned the station, the attendant would then place a red flag along the roadway, which would alert the officers to the call.
The patrol was met with opposition from the public when it was formed, as well as from other law enforcement agencies, who thought the patrol would endanger their jurisdiction. Therefore, Colorado legislature carefully outlined the duties of the agency in the Patrol Act, which states that "it shall be their duty to promote safety, protect human life and preserve the highways of Colorado by the intelligent, courteous, and strict enforcement of the laws and regulation of this state relating to highways." This became the motto of the Colorado State Patrol.
Until the switch to auto-loading semi-automatic pistols, The CSP carried blue-steel, 4 inch barreled Colt Python revolvers. CSP troopers now carry the Smith & Wesson M&P .40. Additionally, all troopers are issued a Remington 870 shotgun and are given the option to carry either a department or personally owned M14 or AR-15 select-fire rifle.
All CSP troopers are issued an ASP baton and OC, with Tasers started being used in 2011.
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Wikipedia