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Washington State Patrol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is the state police agency for the State of Washington. The first six motorcycle patrolmen of the (then) Highway Patrol were commissioned September 1, 1921. The agency was renamed to Washington State Patrol in 1933. The current chief is Chief John R. Batiste
The State Patrol has law enforcement authority anywhere in the State of Washington, with caveats for Federal property. They also have a memorandum of understanding with the Oregon State Police and are granted eight miles of jurisdiction into the State of Oregon. They are most frequently encountered by citizens on the state highways.
Individual officers of the Washington State Patrol are known as troopers.
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WSP patrol cars are usually white in color, however some are silver, red, dark blue or dark gray. However, all marked units feature two strong prominent features. One feature is the Washington State Patrol shield logo. The other feature, used on about 95% of their vehicle fleet, is a dark blue "lightning bolt" that underlies the State Patrol shield. In addition, marked vehicles bearing these markings usually feature the words "STATE PATROL" above the shield and lighting bolt, and these features are usually found on the front right hand and front left hand door of the vehicle. WSP also operates unmarked units, including SUVs and sports cars such as the Camaro, and luxury cars such as Volvo. Some patrol cars are marked, but do not have light bars.
The overall design of the State Patrol vehicle marking (shield and lightning bolt) remains largely unchanged since the 1930s.
WSP has an aviation wing headquartered at the Olympia Airport. The Aviation Section provides aerial traffic enforcement and other law enforcement services. They also engage in drug enforcement missions and transport donor organs and blood supplies in medical emergencies.
WSP has its own statewide non-trunked, repeater-based, VHF radio network that covers the state. Towers for this network can be seen near highways and look like cell sites, but with longer antennas. In August, 2004, one of these towers near Vancouver, Washington was damaged by an arsonist, taking out WSP communications in Clark County [1].
WSP dispatchers handle WSP, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Liquor Control Board, WSDOT and Washington State Parks.
In 2004, Tyco Electronics won a US$4.5 million contract to provide new Internet Protocol capable radios to WSP [2].
WSP operates seven crime laboratories: full-service labs in Seattle, Tacoma, Marysville and Cheney, and limited-service laboratories in Vancouver, Kennewick and Tumwater. The WSP crime lab system provides service to all city and county law enforcement agencies in the state.
The current WSP uniform is a French Blue shirt with royal blue pocket flaps, French blue pants striped with royal blue, and a royal blue campaign hat. The WSP is one of only two state police agencies (New Mexico State Police being the other) that wear a black bow tie with their long sleeve shirts.
The 190-acre large State Patrol academy is in Shelton, Washington. It includes a 2.7 mile emergency driving course.
There have been 26 State Patrol officers killed in the line of duty [3]. The most recent was James Saunders, killed during a traffic stop in 1999.
- Washington State Patrol homepage
- WSP Forensic Laboratory Services
- Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial
- WSP radio frequencies
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