New Jersey State Police
| New Jersey State Police | |
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| Abbreviation | NJSP |
New Jersey State Police patch
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Logo of the New Jersey State Police
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Seal of the New Jersey State Police
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| Motto | Honor, Duty, Fidelity |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1921 |
| Employees | 4,339 (as of 2004) |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of New Jersey, USA |
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| NJSP Troops | |
| Size | 8,729 square miles (22,610 km2) |
| Population | 8,938,175 (2007 est.) |
| Legal jurisdiction | New Jersey |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | West Trenton, New Jersey |
| Troopers | approx 2,400 |
| Non Sworn Employees | 1,571 (as of 2004) |
| Superintendent responsible | Colonel Rick Fuentes |
| Agency executive | vacant |
| Facilities | |
| Troops |
5
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| Website | |
| Official Site | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The New Jersey State Police (NJSP), is the state police force for the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by Troop Sectors.
As with other state police organizations, the primary reason for the creation of the New Jersey State Police was for the protection of rural areas that had never had law enforcement, beyond a local sheriff, who was often not able to provide suitable police services. Legislation for its creation was first introduced in 1914, but it would not be until March 29, 1921, with the passing of the State Police Bill, that a statewide police force was created. Senator Clarence I. Case was the driving force behind the 1921 legislation, however, the person with the most impact on the organization was its first Superintendent Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr. Schwarzkopf was a graduate of West Point and this training and his time in the military heavily influenced how he organized and trained his first group of troopers. The first State Police class reported for training on September 1, 1921 and consisted of 116 men out of an applicant group of 600. Training took place in Sea Girt, New Jersey on the same grounds as the current State Police Academy. Out of the 116 men who started training only 81 officers and troopers completed the three-month training program. According to the New Jersey State Police Website, "On December 1, 1921, the new troopers were administered the oath of office and on December 5, 1921, in a blinding snowstorm, started out on horseback and motorcycle to their posts throughout the state."
The New Jersey State Police is responsible for general police services, general highway and traffic enforcement, statewide investigation and intelligence services, emergency management, support for state and local law enforcement efforts, maintenance of criminal records and identification systems and regulation of certain commerce such as firearms ownership.
Many municipalities in southern and north-western New Jersey lack local police departments, therefore the state police have the primary responsibility for providing police services to these towns for a yearly assessed nominal fee paid to the state government.
The State Police are also charged with the responsibility of protecting the Governor of New Jersey and Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.
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Wikipedia