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The Georgia State Patrol (GSP) was established in March 1937 in the U.S. state of Georgia and is a division of the Georgia Department of Public Safety. It is the primary state patrol agency for the U.S. state of Georgia. Although focused primarily on the enforcement of traffic laws and investigation of traffic crashes, the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) supports the efforts of all public safety agencies to reduce criminal activity, apprehend those involved, and respond to natural and manmade disasters.

History

The Department of Public Safety was created as Georgia citizens complained about increased traffic fatalities, crime, and a need for a larger law enforcement agency with statewide arrest powers. Georgia lawmakers decided to create the State Patrol. In 1937, Governor E.D Rivers appointed Philip H. Brewster, Sr. as its first permanent commissioner. That summer the first Trooper School was held at Georgia Tech. Eighty troopers graduated the first year. To date, the Georgia State Patrol has graduated 115 Trooper Schools.[3]

In November 2021, Distributed Denial of Secrets released 1.8 terabytes of police helicopter surveillance footage from the Dallas Police Department and the Georgia State Patrol.[4][5] According to Wired, the footage showed helicopters capturing everything from cars lined up at a drive-through, and people standing in their yards and on the street.[4] Non-profit advocacy group Fight for the Future called the leak "a crystal-clear example of why mass surveillance makes our society less safe, not more safe."[4]

Rank structure

Title Insignia
Commissioner (Colonel)
Deputy Commissioner (Lieutenant Colonel)
Major (Adjutant)
Captain (Troop

commander)

Lieutenant (Assistant Troop Commander)
Sergeant First Class (Post Commander)
Sergeant (Assistant Post Commander)
Corporal (Assistant Post Commander)
Master Trooper No insignia
Senior Trooper No insignia
Trooper First Class 3 No insignia
Trooper First Class 2 No insignia
Trooper First Class 1 No insignia
Trooper No insignia

Patrol troops and posts

  • Troops (A-I) and Posts (1-52)
    • Troop A - Includes the following counties: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Walker, Whitfield.
      • Post 3 - Cartersville, Post 5 - Dalton, Post 28 - Jasper, Post 29 - Paulding, Post 38 - Rome, Post 41 - LaFayette, Post 43 - Calhoun.
    • Troop B - Includes the following counties: Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Dawson, Fannin, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Oconee, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union, White.
      • Post 6 - Gainesville, Post 7 - Toccoa, Post 27 - Blue Ridge, Post 32 - Athens, Post 37 - Cumming, Post 52 - Hartwell
    • Troop C - Includes the following counties: Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett
      • Post 9 - Marietta, (Cobb and Fulton north of I-20 and I-285), Post 47 - Forest Park (Outside I-285), Post 48 - Atlanta (Inside and including I-285), Post 49 - Motorcycle Unit (Metro Atlanta Enforcement), Post 50 - Capitol Hill (Georgia State Capitol Complex), Post 51 - Gwinnett (I-85, I-985, and State Route 316)
    • Troop D - Includes the following counties: Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Crawford, Coweta, Douglas, Harris, Heard, Henry, Fayette, Lamar, Meriwether, Monroe, Muscogee, Pike, Spalding, Talbot, Taylor, Troup, Upson
      • Post 1 - Griffin, Post 2 - LaGrange, Post 4 - Villa Rica, Post 24 - Newnan, Post 26 - Thomaston, Post 34 - Manchester, Post 44 - Forsyth
    • Troop E - Includes the following counties: Baldwin, Columbia, Glascock, Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Jones, Lincoln, Putnam, McDuffie, Morgan, Newton, Oglethorpe, Richmond, Rockdale, Taliaferro, Walton, Warren, Washington, Wilkes
      • Post 8 - Madison, Post 17 - Washington, Post 25 - Grovetown, Post 33 - Milledgeville, Post 46 - Monroe
    • Troop F - Includes the following counties: Appling, Bleckley, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Davis, Dodge, Emanuel, Evans, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Twiggs, Wheeler, Wilkinson
      • Post 16 - Helena, Post 18 - Reidsville, Post 19 - Swainsboro, Post 20 - Dublin, Post 21 - Sylvania, Post 45 - Statesboro
    • Troop G - Includes the following counties: Baker, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Colquitt, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee, Marion, Miller, Mitchell, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Seminole, Stewart, Sumter, Terrell, Thomas, Webster, Worth
      • Post 10 - Americus, Post 12 - Thomasville, Post 14 - Colquitt, Post 39 - Cuthbert, Post 40 - Albany
    • Troop H - Includes the following counties: Atkinson, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Crisp, Coffee, Cook, Dooly, Echols, Houston, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Macon, Peach, Pulaski, Tift, Turner, Wilcox
      • Post 13 - Tifton, Post 15 - Perry, Post 30 - Cordele, Post 31 - Valdosta, Post 36 - Douglas
    • Troop I - Includes the following counties: Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Pierce, Ware, Wayne
      • Post 11 - Hinesville, Post 22 - Waycross, Post 23 - Brunswick, Post 35 - Jekyll Island, Post 42 - Rincon
  • Troop J (Safety Education and Implied Consent) - Troop J contains two units:
    • Safety Education Unit - Promotes the safe operation of motor vehicles.
    • Implied Consent Unit - Provides support to the Forensics Science Division of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) by overseeing and maintaining the breath-alcohol program for the State of Georgia.
  • Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) includes the Crisis Negotiations Team (CNT)
  • Dive Team
  • Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT)
  • Criminal Interdiction Unit (CIU)
  • Crime Suppression Unit (CSU)
  • Aviation Unit - Operates 15 helicopters and a Cessna 182 from six locations throughout the State. These are located in Kennesaw, Albany, Gainesville, Perry, Reidsville, and Augusta [6]
  • Governor’s Task Force - airborne marijuana eradication unit partnered with the Army National Guard.
  • Nighthawks DUI Task Force - 3 DUI Task Forces (Nighthawks North, Nighthawks Middle , Nighthawks South) that patrol during peak DUI related hours in metro areas.
  • Motorcycle Unit - Post 49 - Patrols the Interstate Highways of metropolitan Atlanta with 30 motorcycles.
  • Executive Security - The Executive Security Division is, by law, responsible for two distinct functions: executive security and executive protection.The Executive Security Unit provides facility security for the Governor's Mansion and provides personal security for the residents. The Executive Protection Unit provides continual security for the governor, lieutenant governor, the speaker of the House, and the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, and their families.
  • Honor Guard
  • Recruiting Unit
  • Training Division

Other divisions of the Georgia DPS

Main article: Georgia Department of Public Safety

Capitol Police

Officers with the Capitol Police Division investigate criminal incidents and traffic crashes; manage street closures for events; patrol the streets on Capitol Square and those adjacent to other state buildings; provide courtroom security for Georgia's Supreme Court and Court of Appeals; conduct security assessments and surveillance detection; and deliver personal safety training for state employees and others.

Motor Carrier Compliance

The Motor Carrier Compliance Division (MCCD) performs driver and vehicle inspections of commercial motor vehicles at roadsides, inspection stations, and at carriers' terminals. The inspections range from "full" vehicle and driver inspections—which include mechanical components—to "driver only" inspections. These may also include inspections of vehicles transporting hazardous materials.

This division consists of the following units and programs:

  • HOV Unit - responsible for the enforcement of High Occupancy Lane restrictions and communications.
  • School Bus Safety Unit - responsible for the annual safety inspection of the state's 17,000 public school buses
  • Compliance Review Program/Safety Audit - consists of 20 officers who conduct interstate and intrastate compliance reviews.
  • Size and Weight Enforcement - the operation of 19 permanent weight/inspection stations provide enforcement coverage on the interstates and related by-pass routes.
  • Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Program - contains five federally funded and required program areas, Driver/Vehicle Inspections, Traffic Enforcement, Compliance Reviews, Public Information and Education and Data Collection.

Equipment

Current equipment

  • Glock Model 45 MOS Gen 5 9mm equipped with a Trijicon SRS, factory Glock +2 magazine extension, and a Nightstick TCM-550XL weapons light.
  • Glock Model 43 9mm—backup weapon [7]
  • LWRC Patrol Rifle .223-5.56mm—patrol rifle equipped with a Aimpoint [8]

Previously issued equipment

Vehicles

The GSP currently uses Dodge Chargers as the main patrol vehicle which are in the blue and gray scheme, and are currently issuing out Dodge Durangos, Dodge Challengers, and Chevrolet Camaros. Many of these vehicles are now ordered black in color, although in some areas, the Ford Crown Victorias can be seen. They are painted in the traditional blue and grey at the factory with orange decals. However, some are issued in the color black displaying gray decals or black with ghost letters. In addition, they also utilize the Chevrolet Tahoe, which includes vehicles in either black, white, or grey color schemes. When these cars are retired, the decals and emergency equipment are removed from the vehicles before being auctioned off to the public, yet retain the old blue and grey scheme (or as shown on this old 1992 Ford Mustang) the decals can be spray painted over. Former models used were the Chevrolet Caprice, Ford LTD Crown Victoria, Pontiac LeMans, BMW 528i (one still kept by the state), Ford Mustang and Ford Thunderbird.

Dodge Charger of the Georgia State Patrol

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Georgia State Patrol, 26 officers have died in the line of duty.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c USDOJ Statistics Archived November 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Population Estimates". Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2008-12-25. 2007 Population Estimates
  3. ^ "History | Georgia Department of Public Safety". Dps.georgia.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  4. ^ a b c Newman, Lily Hay (November 5, 2021). "1.8 TB of Police Helicopter Surveillance Footage Leaks Online". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  5. ^ Murney, Michael. "Leaked Dallas Police Helicopter Surveillance Footage Raises Privacy Concerns". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  6. ^ https://dps.georgia.gov/contacts/commissioners-office/aviation.
  7. ^ "Peach State Protectors: The Georgia State Patrol's Glock 43". 10 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  8. ^ "State troopers now carrying patrol rifles". Archived from the original on 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
  9. ^ "Bridging the .45 GAP". 26 April 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  10. ^ "F/T - Glock 22 'Georgia State Patrol'". Forum.gon.com. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  11. ^ "PR8452c__85856.jpg". Archived from the original on 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2017-03-05.
  12. ^ "Georgia State Patrol, GA". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP). Retrieved 29 March 2019.

https://dps.georgia.gov/organization/about-dps

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_State_Patrol