- Montana Highway Patrol
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Montana Highway Patrol Abbreviation MHP 
Patch of the Montana Highway Patrol. Agency overview Formed 1935 Employees 274 (as of 2004) [1] Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Jurisdictional structure Operations jurisdiction* State of Montana, USA 
Montana Highway Patrol Districts Size 147,165 square miles (381,160 km2) Population 957,861 (2007 est.)[2] General nature Operational structure Headquarters Helena, Montana Troopers 206 (as of 2004) [3] Civilians 68 (as of 2004) [4] Agency executive Colonel Michael T. Tooley, Chief Administrator Parent agency Montana Department of Justice Website Montana Highway Patrol site Footnotes * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. The Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) is the highway patrol agency for Montana, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state. It was created to protect the lives, property and constitutional rights of people in Montana.
Contents
History
The Montana Highway Patrol was founded in 1935 after Montana led the nation with a 74% increase in highway fatalities. Twenty-four recruits taken from an application pool of over 1500 were selected to attend the first Highway Patrol Recruit Academy, and on May 1, 1935 those recruits took to the highways. Though authorized to enforce the eleven traffic laws in existence at that time, the Montana Highway Patrol's main focus was to educate and assist the public.
In 1988, they became the first state highway patrol in the nation to become nationally accredited. The accreditation process took three years to complete and was considered a critical element in enhancing the professionalism of the Montana Highway Patrol.
Organization
The Montana Highway Patrol is divided into eight districts.
The Patrol's 200 troopers cover great distances to police Montana's highways, assist other law enforcement agencies and help motorists in need. Each year, the men and women of the Patrol:
- drive more than 5.5 million miles
- respond to over 70,000 calls for service
- issue more than 85,000 arrest tickets and more than 100,000 warning tickets
Troopers provide public safety education presentations on nearly every subject related to driving safety, including seatbelt use, driving under the influence and child safety.
Mission
The Highway Patrol's mission is to safeguard the lives and property of the people using the highway traffic system of Montana through education, service, enforcement, and interagency cooperation.
Weapons
The Montana Highway Patrol uses a variety of lethal and non-lethal weapons, the weapons that are in use by the department are as follows:
- .357 Sig
- Remington 870 Shotgun
- Colt AR-15
- OC (oleoresin capsicum) Spray
District offices
There are eight District offices:
District I (Missoula) – Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli and Sanders Counties
District II (Great Falls) – Cascade, Fergus, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum, Teton and Wheatland Counties
District III (Butte) – Beaverhead, Deer Lodge, Granite, Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, Madison, Powell and Silver Bow Counties
District IV (Billings) – Big Horn, Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass and Yellowstone Counties
District V (Glendive) – Carter, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, McCone, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sheridan, Treasure, Valley and Wibaux Counties
District VI (Kalispell) – Flathead, Lake and Lincoln Counties
District VII (Bozeman) – Broadwater, Gallatin, Madison, Meagher and Park Counties
District VIII (Havre) – Blaine, Chouteau, Glacier, Hill, Liberty, Phillips, Pondera and Toole Counties
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Montana Highway Patrol, 8 officers have died in the line of duty.[5]
Officer Date of Death Details Patrolman Robert G. Steele Saturday, November 2, 1946 Gunfire Patrolman James H. Anderson Saturday, July 24, 1954 Struck by vehicle Patrolman Richard E. Hedstrom Thursday, July 19, 1973 Vehicular assault Patrolman Michael M. Ren Saturday, April 8, 1978 Gunfire Trooper David A. Graham Tuesday, October 9, 2007 Automobile accident Trooper Evan Schneider Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Automobile accident Trooper Mike Haynes Friday, March 27, 2009 Vehicular assault Trooper David J. DeLaittre Wednesday, December 1, 2010 Gunfire See also
References
- ^ USDOJ Statistics
- ^ http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html 2007 Population Estimates
- ^ USDOJ Statistics
- ^ USDOJ Statistics
- ^ Officer Down Memorial Page
External links
Highway patrol/State police in the United States See also: Law enforcement in the United States and Highway patrolStates Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming • HawaiiFederal District Insular areas Categories:- Law enforcement agencies of Montana
- State law enforcement agencies of Montana
- Government agencies established in 1935
- United States law enforcement agency stubs
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