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Ahighway patrol is apolice unit, detail, orlaw enforcement agency created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcingtraffic safetycompliance onroads andhighways within a jurisdiction. They are also referred to in many countries astraffic police, although in other countries this term is more commonly used to refer to foot officers on point duty who control traffic at junctions.
Duties of highway patrols or traffic police may include the following:
InArgentina, traffic policing is the responsibility of theArgentine National Gendarmerie.
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InAustralia, traffic policing is the responsibility of the state police forces (with the notable exception of theAustralian Capital Territory, under the responsibility of theAustralian Federal Police). Each force has its own traffic sections, often a local section in each area and a statewide section.
In Austria, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theAustrian Federal Police.
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InBelgium, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Wegpolitie - Police de la Route (WPR) a section of theFederal Police (formerGendarmerie).
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InBrazil, traffic policing is the responsibility of state and federal police forces accordingly to the highway administration status. State administered highways (usually shorter, within state borders, two-way, single lane, lower traffic) are policed by a branch of theMilitary Police forces, calledState Highway Military Police. At the same time Federal highways and roads (longer, crossing state borders, some double lane and high-traffic) are the responsibility of theFederal Highway Police.
InCanada traffic policing on highways is primarily the responsibility of theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police, except for in the provinces ofOntario,Quebec,Alberta,Saskatchewan andNew Brunswick. In these provinces, the following agencies are responsible for highway patrol:
InNewfoundland and Labrador, theRoyal Newfoundland Constabulary serves only major metropolitan areas[1] and highway policing is the responsibility of theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police.InBritish Columbia, provincial RCMP Traffic Services rebranded themselves as theBritish Columbia Highway Patrol. British Columbia Highway Patrol vehicles have their own liveries without the RCMP logo but unlike other highway patrol agencies, they are not a separate agency. Instead they remain part of the RCMP. InNew Brunswick,Inspections and Enforcement New Brunswick officers assist provincial RCMP officers with traffic enforcement as the RCMP dismantled all but one of its traffic units in the province. In 2018Saskatchewan gave additional authorities to its commercial vehicle enforcement branch in relation to Criminal Code and provincial traffic offences and renamed the branch theSaskatchewan Highway Patrol to reflect its new powers. In addition to theSûreté du Québec,Quebec maintains theContrôle routier Québec [fr] which enforces traffic laws in relation to commercial vehicles. TheNorthwest Territories has a highway patrol agency called theNorthwest Territories Highway Patrol. It is responsible only for enforcing laws in relation to commercial vehicles.
In China some provinces, including Sichuan[2] have a separate Expressway PatrolPublic Security Bureau which is under the administration of provincial Public Security Departments, however in most provinces such as Guangdong, the task of highway patrol is assigned municipal traffic police.[3]
Prior to its deactivation in 2018, the ChinesePeople's Armed Police Transportation Corps [zh] was tasked with maintenance, disaster response and security along highways in rural or border areas.[4]
InColombia, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theColombian National Police, under the responsibility of theHighway Police corps.
InCroatia, traffic police special department is the national motorway patrol, patrols the motorways in Croatia. Missions include the prevention and detection of driving offences.
In theCzech Republic, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of thePolicie CR.
InDenmark, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theDanish National Police.
InFinland, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theFinnish National Police.
InFrance, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of dedicated units of theGendarmerie Nationale, theEscadron départementaux de sécurité routière (EDSR) and theCRS autoroutières of theNational Police (France).
InGermany, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theAutobahnpolizei section of theLandespolizei.
In,Hungary, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Hungarian National Police (Rendőrség).
In India, some states have formed Highway Patrol Divisions under their respective state police departments. such asKarnataka Highway Patrol,Kerala Highway Police,Tamil Nadu Highway Patrol,Maharashtra Highway Police, etc. In states where there is no highway police system, traffic policing duties on highways are performed by the traffic police of the respective state police forces.
InIndonesia, traffic policing is the responsibility of theIndonesian National Police's Traffic Corps. The Indonesian National Police Traffic Corps (Korps Lalu Lintas Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia abbreviated "Korlantas Polri") oversees several units which regard to traffic policing including the highway patrol unit. It conducts activities such as traffic: law enforcement, management, control, accident handling and prevention, education,escort, andpatrol in theroads of the country. The issuing of a driver's license is also conducted by this unit.
TheGarda Traffic Corps, a specialised unit of theGarda Síochána (the national police force ofIreland) is responsible for patrolling the countries motorways and other national routes. They patrol using motorbikes, off-road/4X4s, and a mixture of marked and unmarked high-powered saloon cars.
InItaly, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of thePolizia Stradale section of the civilianPolizia di Stato and the Gendarmerie force of theCarabinieri.
InJapan, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Expressway Traffic Police Units (高速道路交通警察隊,Kōsoku-dōro kōtsu-keisatsu-tai), operational units of the traffic department within eachprefectural police agency.[5]
Despite the non-existence of motorways due to the country's small size, theLiechtensteiner National Police, the country's small national police force, is in charge of traffic matters.
InLuxembourg, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theGrand Ducal Police, the country's national police force, under the responsibility of the Road Police Unit (UPR -Unité de la police de la route /Eenheet vun der Verkéierspolice /Verkehrspolizeieinheit).[6] This task was previously enforced by the defunct Luxembourgish NationalGrand Ducal Gendarmerie.
InMalaysia, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility byRoyal Malaysia Police.JPJ also charged with the responsibility of undertaking registration and licensing of drivers and all motor vehicles and trailers in Malaysia.
InMexico, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theMexican National Guard.
Despite the non-existence of motorways due to the country's small size, theMonegasque Public Security, the country's small national police force, is in charge of traffic matters.
InMorocco, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility ofRoyal Moroccan Gendarmerie, the country's nationalgendarmerie force.
In theNetherlands, policing on the highways falls under the purview of theDienst Infrastructuur, which is one of theLandelijke Eenheid (national police services, as opposed to the regional forces). Their primary focus is to conduct traffic stops with the aim to detect criminal activities and to intercept weapons, money and drugs. Which can be used for criminal activities. further they work with agencies to prevent international drug trade. Within theDienst Infrastructuur there is an organisation calledFIT (Flexibel Interventie Team) they are an organization that specializes in tackling embezzlement and theft of cars and tackling drug transport via cars.
InNew Zealand the Highway Patrol operates almost exclusively onstate highways and is a subdivision of the Road Policing Team of theNew Zealand Police.[7] The Road Policing Team includes many different Highway Patrol type policing teams such as the Strategic Traffic Units, Commercial Vehicle Safety Team, Impairment Prevention Teams, and Serious Crash Units.[8] Formerly traffic law enforcement was the responsibility of theTraffic Safety Service of theMinistry of Transport. The MOT had no law enforcement authority beyond traffic. The MOT merged with the Police in 1992 and the Highway Patrol was re-established as its own unit within the New Zealand Police in 2001.[9]
InNorway, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of National Mobile Police Service of theNorwegian Police Service.
InPakistan, traffic policing on National Highways And Motorways is the responsibility ofNational Highways & Motorway Police.
In thePhilippines, traffic policing on national highways and motorways is the responsibility of theHighway Patrol Group of thePhilippine National Police. The Highway Patrol Group are responsible for intelligence, promulgating anti-carnapping campaigns and other road enforcements. In regards to traffic violations, theLand Transportation Office Law Enforcement Service are responsible for enforcing traffic rules and regulations both for public utility and private vehicles on national highways.
Furthermore, theMetropolitan Manila Development Authority is responsible for policing traffic rules around Metro Manila highways, particularly onEpifanio de los Santos Avenue.
InPoland, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of thePolicja, the National Police Force.
InPortugal, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theRepublican National Guard.
InRussia, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility ofGIBDD section of thePolitsiya and the Public Security Service of theMVD.
InSpain, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theCivil Guard (the country's Gendarmery force), except in the autonomous communities with transferred competences on traffic policing (Catalonia and theBasque Country), where autonomous police forces (Mossos d'Esquadra andErtzaintza, respectively) are responsibly for this area. As of 2020, traffic policing inNavarra has been fully transferred to the local autonomous police force, thePolicía Foral de Navarra.[10]
InSri Lanka, traffic policing is the responsibility of theTraffic Police, a specialised unit of theSri Lankan National Police.
InSweden, traffic policing is the responsibility of theSwedish Police Authority. All Swedish police officers have the authority to stop drivers but it is only the police officers within the Swedish Traffic Police division who have the authority to clamp vehicles etc.
InTaiwan, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theNational Police Agency.
InTunisia, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility ofTunisian National Guard, the country's nationalgendarmerie force.
InTurkey, road traffic duties are carried out by Traffic Police under Turkish National Police and Traffic Gendarmerie under General Command of Gendarmerie in their respective areas of responsibilities.
In theUnited Kingdom, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of theRoads Policing Unit of theterritorial police force. In some cases, police forces combine their roads policing units, for example theCentral Motorway Police Group andNorth West Motorway Police Group.
Manystate police agencies in theUnited 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, theArizona 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 thecountysheriff, 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 theCalifornia Supreme Court building in San Francisco. The state traffic enforcement agency retained the name "California Highway Patrol" after the merger of the smallerCalifornia State Police with the larger and better-known CHP and the combination of their functions into one agency. OnLong Island,New York, along with neighboringNew York City, an unusual arrangement exists in which the city and county highway patrols conduct everyday enforcement on the limited-use highways, with theNew York State Police acting in a support role on the limited-access highways within NYC, especially whenNYPD Highway Patrol officers call for assistance or are unavailable due to limited manning and deployment elsewhere in NYC.
Some highway patrol organizations, such as theFlorida Highway Patrol andNorth Carolina State Highway Patrol, are specifically charged with the enforcement of traffic laws, and while able to enforce other laws, they arenot an official "state police" agency, yet retain their statewide jurisdiction[11] in the same vein as the California Highway Patrol or theNew Jersey State Police. States like Texas have a bona fide and appropriately named state police department such as theTexas Department of Public Safety, of which only one arm is a highway patrol division.[12] In addition, the police departments ofBoston,New York City,Philadelphia,Nassau andSuffolk 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 similarstate police agencies is available on the web.[13] TheIowa 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.[14] These numbers are useful for motorists who want to reportaggressive driving,driving under the influence, or other dangerous but not life-threatening situations that do not require a9-1-1 call.
Highway patrol and state police officers are often referred to as a "state trooper". Historically, a troop was a smallcavalry unit. Many state police forces originated as mounted paramilitary forces who were stationed inbarracks 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-runfreeway 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, jumpstarts, 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 minorroadside assistance duties.[citation needed]