Wisconsin State Patrol
| Wisconsin State Patrol | |
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Patch of the Wisconsin State Patrol
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Logo of the Wisconsin State Patrol
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | September 1, 1939 |
| Employees | 713 (as of 2004) |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of Wisconsin, United States |
| Size | 65,498 square miles (169,640 km2) |
| Population | 5,757,564 (2014 est) |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters |
Madison, Wisconsin United States
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| Sworn members | 510 (as of 2004) |
| Unsworn members | 203 (as of 2004) |
| Agency executive | J.D. Lind, Superintendent |
| Parent agency | Wisconsin Department of Transportation |
| Facilities | |
| Regions | 5 |
| Website | |
| wisconsindot.gov | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The Wisconsin State Patrol is the state police force for the state of Wisconsin. It serves a population of 5.7 million mainly through traffic safety and enforcement on the state highways.
The Wisconsin Legislature created Chapter 110 on September 1, 1939 to have the Motor Vehicle Department. That department had three divisions: Registration and Licensing, Highway Safety Promotion and Inspection and Enforcement. The Inspection and Enforcement division had inspectors who enforced the state motor carrier regulations and the state motor vehicle code. That division eventually became known as the Wisconsin State Patrol.
Prior to 1939, there were some sort of statewide enforcement efforts through other 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 weights and traffic.
State Patrol-run radio went on the air on February 1, 1943 on station WIZR on a frequency of 31.50 MHz. The radio allowed communication with the Patrol's mobile units and with local law enforcement short-wave stations.
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. However, the State Patrol is seen as a state police force and as such, its state troopers have full police authority and statewide jurisdiction although investigating non-traffic crimes is not a priority for the agency, especially if those crimes occur within an incorporated area that has its own police department.
These are the services provided statewide by the agency:
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.
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.
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Wikipedia