Alabama Department of Public Safety

Alabama Department of Public Safety
Alabama Department of Public Safety Seal
Common name	Alabama State Troopers
Motto	Courtesy, Service, Protection
Agency overview
Formed	December 5, 1935
Preceding agency	Alabama Highway Patrol (1935-1939)
Employees	700–1,000 (civilian) ~ 220 (law enforcement)
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Alabama, USA
Legal jurisdiction	State of Alabama
General nature	Civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	Alabama Criminal Justice Center Montgomery, Alabama
Agency executives	Jon Archer, Colonel Will Wright, Major of Highway Patrol [vacant at the time], Major of Drivers' License Division Steve Thompson, Major of Marine Patrol
Parent agency	Alabama Law Enforcement Agency
Child agencies	Alabama Highway Patrol Alabama Marine Patrol Alabama Drivers License Division
Facilities
Posts and Field Offices	15 posts and 2 field offices
Police Vehicles	Ford Explorer Ford Taurus Ford Expedition Ford Crown Victoria Ford F-250 Chevrolet Tahoe Chevrolet Suburban Chevrolet Impala Dodge Charger Dodge Durango Dodge Ram
Helicopters	UH-1-H Huey Bell 206B Jet Ranger OH-58A+(w/ NightSun and FLIR)
Planes	Beech King Air 200 Cessna C-182
Dogs	German Shepherd Belgian Malinois
Website
Alabama DPS site

The Alabama Department of Public Safety is the uniform section of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, serving the U.S. state of Alabama. It is made up of three divisions: Highway Patrol Division, Marine Patrol Division, and Drivers' License Division.^[1]

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History

The Alabama Department of Public Safety began as the Alabama Highway Patrol on December 5, 1935. The Highway Patrol was renamed the Department of Public Safety on March 8, 1939, and then included 4 divisions: Highway Patrol, Driver License, Accident Prevention Bureau, and Mechanical and Equipment.^[2]

On January 17, 2011, Hugh B. McCall was appointed to the position of Colonel of the Alabama Department of Public Safety by Governor Robert J. Bentley, making him the first African-American to head the agency. In 2013 the state's law enforcement agencies were streamlined into the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.^[3]

Organization

The Department of Public Safety is headed by a director appointed by the Governor of Alabama who is the executive officer of the department and holds the rank of colonel. The director is aided in managing the department by an assistant director, who is also appointed by the governor and who holds the rank of lieutenant colonel. Each of the department's three divisions are headed by uniformed officers with the rank of major.

Driver License Division
- Drive License Examining Unit
- Drive Records Unit
- License Reinstatement Unit
- Safety Responsibility Unit
Alabama Highway Patrol Division
- Career Development and Training Office
- Motor Carrier Safety Unit
- Traffic Homicide Investigations Office
- Division Programs Office
- Patrol Operations
  - Alexander City Post
  - Birmingham Post
  - Decatur Post
  - Dothan Post
  - Eufaula Field Office
  - Evergreen Post
  - Gadsden Post
  - Grove Hill Field Office
  - Hamilton Post
  - Huntsville Post
  - Jacksonville Post
  - Mobile Post
  - Montgomery Post
  - Opelika Post
  - Quad Cities Post
  - Selma Post
  - Troy Post
  - Tuscaloosa Post

–

Highway Patrol

The Alabama Highway Patrol is a division of the Alabama Department of Public Safety and is the highway patrol agency for Alabama, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state. It was created to protect the lives, property and constitutional rights of people in Alabama.

In 1971, the Alabama Highway Patrol became the first U.S. police organization to use downsized vehicles for regular highway patrol duties when they purchased 132 AMC Javelins. This pre-dated, among others, the Camaros and Mustangs used by other departments years later.

Marine Patrol

The Alabama Marine Patrol Division is responsible for law enforcement on the waterways of Alabama. The mission of the Division is to "enhance safety and promote responsible use of resources on Alabama's waterways through enforcement, education, and community activities".^[4] The Division patrols the waterways of the state, oversees pleasure boats registration and boat operators licensing, and provides education to boaters, and also maintains 1,518 waterway markings (buoys).^[5]

The Division operates from three districts: Northern, which includes the Tennessee, Coosa, and Black Warrior Rivers; Central, which includes the Coosa, Tallapoosa, Alabama, Tombigbee, and Chattahoochee Rivers; and Southern, which includes the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, Mobile Bay, Gulf of Mexico, and other rivers and lakes.^[5]

Rank structure

The Alabama Department of Public Safety rank structure is as listed:

Rank	Insignia
Director
Assistant Director
Chief
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Corporal
Senior Trooper
Trooper

Fallen officers

There have been 29 Alabama State Troopers killed in the line of duty since its beginning in 1935.^[6]

Rank	Name	Date of Death	Cause of Death	Age	Location
Patrolman	Maury Young	09-05-1936	Killed in a crash after his motorcycle struck a trailer	29	In Calhoun County, Alabama
Patrolman	William D. Raiford, Sr.	10-16-1937	Killed in a crash while on his motorcycle after a vehicle struck him	29	In Jefferson County, Alabama
Chief Radio Engineer	L. Bert Ussery	09-21-1943	Killed in a crash while in his State vehicle while traveling to fix a dispatch radio	N/A	On U.S. Route 231 in Troy, Alabama
Patrolman	Arvil O. Hudson	05-20-1952	Killed in a crash after striking a pothole and losing control on a rain-slicked road during a pursuit	39	In Walker County, Alabama
Patrolman	Henry Preston Bryant	12-07-1952	Killed in a crash after a vehicle failed to yield in an intersection while in a pursuit with a drunk driver	30	On Lee Highway west of Larkinsville, Alabama
Patrolman	Julian F. Draughon	10-03-1953	Killed in a crash while on his motorcycle after a vehicle failed to yield to his lights and siren as he escorted a vehicle to the hospital	29	In Houston County, Alabama
Patrolman	Howard Milford Brock	11-08-1957	Killed in a crash with a vehicle that failed to yield to his lights and siren during a pursuit	46	In Lee County, Alabama
Patrolman	Joe F. Partin	07-25-1960	Killed in a crash while on his motorcycle after a truck turned out in front of him	32	In Baldwin County, Alabama
Patrolman	Anthony A. Scozarro	12-13-1961	Killed in a crash in which he was the passenger after a vehicle struck the side of the patrol car after running a stop sign	22	In Montgomery, Alabama
Captain	Thomas Estes Maxwell	10-04-1962	Killed in a crash after being struck by a vehicle while in his patrol car while responding to help a Mississippi Highway Patrol Officer	43	Intersection of Danville Road and Chapel Road in Danville, Alabama
Sergeant	Raymond M. Carlton	02-27-1965	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car after a tire blew causing him to hit a bridge abutment	52	On the side of U.S. Route 331 in Covington County, Alabama
Trooper	Randolph G. Glover	07-19-1967	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car after losing control during a pursuit	28	In Monroe County, Alabama
Trooper	Brooks D. Lawson	07-31-1969	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car after being hit by a train at an unmarked crossing during a pursuit	29	N/A
Corporal	Thomas Odean Gillilan	07-01-1970	Succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained on 06-28-1970 after being shot while on a traffic stop	38	On the side of U.S. 331 in Crenshaw County, Alabama
Corporal	Harlan B. Blake	10-10-1970	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car during a pursuit	38	N/A
Auxiliary Trooper	Ormand Franklin Watkins	04-11-1971	Shot and killed while on a traffic stop with a drunk man who shot him during a fight; his partner, Trooper Ronald Ogletree was also shot but survived	30	On the side of Pineview Circle in Rainbow City, Alabama
Corporal	Riley Delano Smith	12-17-1971	Electrocuted to death while checking on a dead body in a swamp; a billboard wire shorted out and electrocuted him as soon as he touched the post	34	Off the side of the Mobile Causeway (U.S. Route 98) in the Mobile Bay in Mobile, Alabama
Trooper	James Buford Robinson	12-10-1972	Shot and killed while helping Talladega Police Officers search for a man that wounded a Talladega Officer; Trooper Robinson chased the suspect to a residence when the man turned and killed Trooper Robinson	41	On Chandler Street in Talladega, Alabama
Trooper	Bobby S. Gann	02-21-1974	Shot and killed after chasing an escaped mental patient into a dark, abandoned home; the suspect had previously stolen a vehicle	39	Just off of U.S. Route 31 approx. eight miles north of Prattville, Alabama
Trooper	Kenyon M. Lassiter	04-19-1974	Struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while writing a warning to a driver he just stopped	51	On the side of U.S. Route 331 approx. eight miles north of Opp, Alabama
Sergeant	Julius Douglas Stuckey	06-27-1974	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car after a tire blew and he struck a bridge railing	36	On the side of I-65 in Evergreen, Alabama
Trooper	Johnnie Earl Booker	11-02-1978	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car after a logging truck pinned him against a bridge railing	28	On Alabama State Route 21, approx. 1.5 miles north of Talladega, Alabama
Trooper	David E. Temple	09-13-1979	Shot and killed while on a traffic stop with a car that was wanted in an earlier armed robbery	36	On the side of Alabama State Route 20/U.S. Route 72 (Alternate)/I-565 in Mooresville, Alabama
Trooper	Simmie L. Jeffries	12-21-1984	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car after a tractor trailer turned in front of him	22	On the interchange of U.S. Route 72 and I-65 near Athens, Alabama
Trooper	Larry D. Cawyer	05-25-1985	Struck and killed by two vehicles that wrecked and slid into him as he wrote a traffic ticket	42	On the side of the I-10 Bayway in Mobile, Alabama
Trooper	Elizabeth S. Cobb	10-11-1987	Shot and killed by her boyfriend who was also an Alabama State Trooper in an attempt to collect her $350,000 life insurance policy	36	Behind New Bethel Church on County Road 6 in Dallas County, Alabama
Trooper	Robert William Jones	10-03-1991	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car after a tractor trailer pulled out in front of him as he responded to a reckless driver call	41	On U.S. Route 231 in Pike County, Alabama
Trooper	Willis Von Moore	02-26-1996	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car while responding to a crash; multiple cars failed to yield to Trooper Moore's lights and siren causing Trooper Moore to strike a guardrail	34	On the side of U.S. Route 431 just north of Bob Wade Lane in Huntsville, Alabama
Trooper	Brian Keith Nichols	02-17-2002	Killed in a crash while in his patrol car after striking a horse as he topped a hill; the horse fell into his windshield and crushed the top frame of the car	35	On Alabama State Route 56 near Chatom, Alabama

Since 1935, the Alabama State Troopers have had one Trooper killed in the military.

Rank	Name	Date Employed	Date of Death	Cause of Death	Age
Trooper	Stephen Ray Robinette	N/A	04-06-1991	Killed by an IED during Operation Desert Storm; he was a Sergeant of the U.S. Army's VII Corps	36	In southern Iraq