A highway patrol is a police unit, detail, or law enforcement agency created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways within a jurisdiction. They are also referred to in many countries as traffic police, although in other countries this term is more commonly used to refer to foot officers on point duty who control traffic at junctions.
Functions
Duties of highway patrols or traffic police may include the following:
- Accident investigation
- Gathering evidence to determine the cause of a roadway accident.
- Commercial vehicle enforcement
- Enforcing highway laws related to commercial transport, including weight limits and hazardous materials rules.
- Education
- Providing public information, handouts, and displays to encourage safe driving and usage of the roads.
- Emergency response
- Securing the scene of a traffic accident by using cones and flares as well as providing first aid to the injured.
- Law enforcement
- Assisting local police in rural areas, and keeping an eye out for non-traffic violations.
- Maintenance
- Observing and reporting damage to the roadways, and conducting hasty road surveys after disasters or the passage of inclement weather.
- Traffic enforcement
- Enforcing laws and regulations intended to improve traffic safety, such as speed limits.
United States
Many state police agencies in the United States take the name of "highway patrol" rather than "state police". State police agencies may fulfil the role of highway patrol, and vice versa. For instance, the Arizona Highway Patrol is actually a state police agency, meaning that it is a police body having statewide authority to conduct law enforcement activities and criminal investigations. In addition to its highway patrol duties, it performs functions outside the normal purview of the city police or the county sheriff, such as enforcing traffic laws on state highways and interstate expressways, overseeing the security of the state capitol complex and other state buildings, protecting the governor, providing technological and scientific support services, and helping to coordinate multi-jurisdictional task force activity in serious or complex cases. The California Highway Patrol serves as bailiffs and courtroom deputies for certain state courts, such as the appellate courts and the California Supreme Court building in San Francisco. The state traffic enforcement agency retained the name "California Highway Patrol" after the merger of the smaller California State Police with the larger and better-known CHP and the combination of their functions into one agency. On Long Island, New York, along with neighboring New York City, an unusual arrangement exists in which the city and county highway patrols conduct everyday enforcement on the limited-use highways, with the New York State Police acting in a support role on the limited-access highways within NYC, especially when NYPD Highway Patrol officers call for assistance or are unavailable due to limited manning and deployment elsewhere in NYC.
Some highway patrol organizations, such as the Florida Highway Patrol and North Carolina State Highway Patrol, are specifically charged with the enforcement of traffic laws, and while able to enforce other laws, they are not an official "state police" agency, yet retain their statewide jurisdiction in the same vein as the California Highway Patrol or the New Jersey State Police. States like Texas have a bona fide and appropriately named state police department such as the Texas Department of Public Safety, of which only one arm is a highway patrol division. In addition, the police departments of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York have highway patrol bureaus. These units have special uniforms for their highway duty- service caps with the wire grommet removed, giving the classic "crusher" look, leather jackets, riding breeches, riding boots, Sam Browne-style belts and lanyards for their service pistols. A privately compiled list of Highway Patrol organizations and similar state police agencies is available on the web. The Iowa State Patrol maintains a list of phone numbers and cell phone dialing codes for non-emergency calls to the dispatchers of the Highway Patrol organizations in all 50 states. These numbers are useful for motorists who want to report aggressive driving, driving under the influence, or other dangerous but not life-threatening situations that do not require a 9-1-1 call.
Highway patrol and state police officers are often referred to as a "state trooper". Historically, a troop was a small cavalry unit. Many state police forces originated as mounted paramilitary forces who were stationed in barracks like soldiers, hence the term "trooper." Some agencies, particularly on the East Coast, refer to their state police offices as "barracks", although troopers generally do not reside there. Other state police forces, particularly highway patrols as in California, have always modeled themselves after police officers who simply commute to work like ordinary civilians. Like police officers, they use the title "officer." Other states use the term "Patrolmen" in reference to members of the State Police or Highway Patrol.
Many states and their Departments of Transportation have organized government-run freeway service patrols, Highway Assistance Patrols, or Highway Safety Patrols, to assist with highway emergencies as needed. While not law enforcement personnel, these persons provide free service to motorists in distress, and secure lanes of traffic, provide emergency medical assistance, request tow trucks for vehicles in inconvenient or dangerous locations, remove debris from the roadway after a crash, and resolve minor disabled vehicle problems, such as flat tires, jump starts, or pushing a disabled vehicle out of travel lanes. Many of these patrols work directly with the State Police and Highway Operations departments of their state, and respond to assistance when a citizen calls 911 for minor roadside assistance duties.
Here is a California Highway Patrol car
Here is a Texas Highway Patrol car
Here is a New York Highway Patrol car
Here is an Idaho Highway Patrol car
If you want to read more, about other countries, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_patrol
- SERVES
- 6
- COOK TIME
- 25 Min
Bourbon chicken can be found on Chinese takeout menus and mall food courts across the country. But did you know it actually got its name from Bourbon Street in New Orleans? Whether you're serving it Mardi Gras-style or with an Asian twist, this flavorful chicken dish is simply delicious and incredibly easy to make. Give these Bourbon Chicken Bites a try when you're craving something that tastes like perfection!
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 cup jalapeno pepper jelly
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- In a medium bowl, combine chicken, cornstarch, garlic powder, ground red pepper, and salt; toss to coat well.
- In a large skillet over high heat, heat oil. Add coated chicken in batches and cook 6 to 8 minutes, or until golden and no pink remains, stirring frequently.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring jelly, soy sauce, and bourbon to a boil. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until jelly has melted, stirring constantly. Add chicken and toss to coat. Serve hot.
1915 – Lorne Greene, Canadian actor (d. 1987)
1919 – Forrest Tucker, American actor (d. 1986)
1968 – Josh Brolin, American actor
