Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police
| Pennsylvania State Police | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | PSP |
Patch of the Pennsylvania State Police
|
|
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | May 2, 1905 |
| Preceding agencies |
State Police (1905–1937)
|
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, USA |
 |
|
| Pennsylvania State Police Troops | |
| Size | 46,055 |
| Population | 12,787,209 (2014 est.) |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |
| Troopers | 4,223 (as of 2016) |
| Civilians | 1,850 (as of 2015) |
| Agency executive | Colonel Tyree C. Blocker , Commissioner |
| Areas | 4 |
| Troops | 16 |
| Facilities | |
| Stations | 90 |
| Helicopters | 7 Bell Jet Rangers |
| Airplanes | 5 "High Wings" |
| Website | |
| Pennsylvania State Police website | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
State Police (1905–1937)
State Highway Patrol (1923–1937)
The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) is the state police force of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. It was founded in 1905 by order of Governor Samuel Pennypacker, by signing senate bill 278 on May 2. The bill was signed in response to the Great Anthracite Strike of 1902, private police forces used by mine and mill owners to stop worker strikes (the Coal and Iron Police) and the inability or refusal of local police or sheriffs offices to enforce the law. The strike lasted from May 15, 1902 to October 23, 1902 and ended with the help of Theodore Roosevelt the sitting president of the time. The department became the first uniformed police organization of its kind in the United States and a model for other state police agencies throughout the nation. PSP enlisted members are referred to as "troopers". Up until 1963 married men were not allowed to apply to state police, and active trooper had to seek permission from their superior officer to get married. In 1971 the first female applicant to the state police academy was accepted as a cadet and graduated in 1972. As of October 2016, the state police have 4,233 state troopers, 5% of them being women, and more than 1,850 civilian support staff. The state police academy is located in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
The current commissioner is Colonel Tyree C. Blocker, nominated by Governor Tom Wolf, and was confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate. Colonel Blocker replaced Marcus Brown who failed to secure confirmation by the State's legislature, and recently resigned as commissoner. After resigning, former Colonel Brown was named to Governor Wolf's state office of Homeland Security as the new director. Some say Colonel Brown had trouble receiving the necessary votes for nomination due to the majority of his history and experience coming from Maryland and the fact that Brown was never employed as a State Trooper. There was also unrest among current and retired PA State Troopers due to the fact that Brown wore the PSP uniform but had never gone through the PA State Police Academy. Colonel Brown lost the senate vote 28 to 22.
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Wikipedia