New York State Police

The New York State Police (NYSP) is the state police of the U.S. state of New York; it is part of the New York State Executive Department and employs over 5,000 sworn state troopers and 711 non-sworn members.

New York State Police
Patch
Seal
Shield of New York State Police
Flag of the State of New York
Common name	New York State Troopers
Abbreviation	NYSP
Motto	Excellence Through Knowledge
Agency overview
Formed	April 11, 1917 (1917-04-11)
Employees	5,711 (as of 2018)
Annual budget	$926,123,000 (2018)
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	New York, U.S.
Troops of the New York State Police
Size	54,556 sq mi (141,300 km2)
Population	19.4 million
Legal jurisdiction	State of New York
Governing body	New York State Executive Department
General nature	Civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	Building 22 W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus Albany, New York, United States
Troopers	5,009
Non-sworn members	711
Agency executive	Steven G. James, Superintendent
Facilities
Troops	11
Website
Official Site

The New York State Police are responsible for patrolling state highways, rural communities, and providing law enforcement services across the state.

History

George Fletcher Chandler, the first Superintendent of the New York State Police

Like most U.S. states, New York did not establish a state police force until the early twentieth century. In part this reflected the pattern of settlement across a wide frontier. A number of proposals to create such a force during the early 1900s, but faced considerable opposition from trade union interests. They feared the police would be used against union organizing, as was happening in several other states.

Following the 1913 murder of Sam Howell, a construction foreman in Westchester County, and failure of the local police to arrest suspects he had named before his death, the New York State Legislature passed a bill to establish a state police force. The New York State Police was officially established on April 11, 1917.

The division's first superintendent was George Fletcher Chandler, who was appointed by Governor Charles S. Whitman. Chandler is credited with much of the division's early organization and development. Chandler coined the term "New York State Troopers." He was an early advocate of officers carrying their weapons exposed on a belt, which was not common practice at the time.

On January 1, 1980, the Long Island State Parkway Police merged with the state police; this resulted in the official establishment of Troop L. In October 1997, the New York State Capital Police was consolidated and absorbed into the state police.

Since February 1994, the agency has accepted DNA evidence for forensic investigation and analysis. The New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center (FIC) opened in November 1996. The Crime Laboratory performs DNA analysis for state investigations and for local law enforcement. It includes a new DNA Data Bank Section that compiles DNA records from violent felons sentenced to prison in New York State. These records can be searched and compared by computer to other evidence collected in unsolved crimes.

In December 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the New York State Park Police was to be merged with the New York State Police. The merger was expected to take about six months. Cuomo resigned in August 2021, and by January 2022, New York officials announced that the two police forces would remain separate.

Since the establishment of the New York State Police, 140 troopers have died while on duty.

Structure and organization

New York State Police building, Guilderland, New York

NY State Police unit at the scene of a motor vehicle accident, Delaware County, New York

The NYSP divides New York state geographically into eleven "Troops," each comprising a specific geographic area, usually several counties. Each is supervised by a "Troop Commander" usually of the rank of Major. NYSP Troops cover the following counties and regions as listed:

Troop	Region(s) Covered	Counties Covered
A	Buffalo Niagara Region Eastern Great Lakes Region Finger Lakes Genesee Valley Western New York Western Southern Tier	Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, Wyoming'
B	Adirondack Mountains Champlain Valley North Country Thousand Islands	Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Upper Hamilton, St. Lawrence
C	Catskill Mountains Central New York Region Eastern Southern Tier Finger Lakes Mohawk Valley region Penn-York Valley	Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga, Tompkins
D	Central New York Mohawk Valley region North Country Tug Hill	Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego
E	Central Southern Tier Eastern Great Lakes Region Finger Lakes Genesee Valley Western New York	Cayuga, Chemung, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Yates
F	Catskill Mountains Hudson Valley (west) and Highlands New York metropolitan area	Greene, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster
G	Adirondack Mountains Capital District	Albany, Fulton, Lower Hamilton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, Washington
K	Hudson Valley (east) and Highlands New York metropolitan area	Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester
L	Long Island New York metropolitan area	Nassau, Suffolk
NYC	Long Island New York City New York metropolitan area	New York City (Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), New York (Manhattan), Richmond (Staten Island), Queens)
T	Capital District Catskills Central New York Finger Lakes Hudson Valley (west) New York metropolitan area Western New York	New York State Thruway, (Interstate 84, 1991–2010)

Each Troop encompasses 2–4 "Zones" which are referred to simply by a Zone number. There are up to several "sub-stations" located within each zone.

Ranks

Rank	Superintendent	First Deputy Superintendent	Deputy Superintendent (Colonel)	Assistant Deputy Superintendent (Lieutenant Colonel)	Staff Inspector	Major	Captain	Lieutenant	Technical Lieutenant	Chief Technical Sergeant	Staff Sergeant	First Sergeant	Senior Investigator (plainclothes)	Zone Sergeant	Sergeant Station Commander	Technical Sergeant	Sergeant	Investigator (plainclothes)	Trooper
Insignia													No insignia					No insignia

Uniforms

Trooper uniforms are made of grey wool, with the exception of the Gore-Tex jacket. Prior to 1958, uniforms (shirts, jackets and britches) were woven of equal parts white fiber and black fiber to symbolize the impartiality of justice. The NYSP do not wear a badge on their uniform shirts.

Equipment

As of January 2018, New York State Troopers are issued the Glock 21 Gen 4 .45 ACP semiautomatic pistol as their service pistol. New York State Troopers previously used the Glock 37 .45 GAP semiautomatic pistol from 2007 to 2018. The New York State Police used the Glock 17 9mm semiautomatic pistol from 1990 to 2007, the Glock 17 replaced the Smith & Wesson Model 686 (NYSP issued the Model 681).

The New York State Police is one of only five state police agencies in the United States that, as of 2019, does not equip its state police vehicles with dashboard cameras. New York State Troopers starting on April 5, 2021 have started receiving body-worn cameras.

Aviation

New York State Police helicopter parked at a helipad in New York City 2020

The New York State Police has three Bell 407 single engine utility helicopters, six Bell 430 twin engine helicopters, three Bell UH-1 “HUEY 2” Single engine utility helicopters and one UH-1H “HUEY 1” Single engine utility helicopter. Their other aircraft are two Cessna 206 Stationair Single engine airplanes, one Cessna 172 Single engine airplane, one Partenavia 68 Twin engine observation airplane, one Sikorsky S-76 (used for transporting the governor), and two Beech King Air twin engine turboprop airplanes. All of these aircraft operate under the call sign “GrayRider”.

See also

• New York State Police Troop C scandal
• List of law enforcement agencies in New York
• New York State University Police
• State Police (United States)
• Highway Patrol

External links

• New York State Police website
  • In-depth NYSP history
• New York State Police in the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
• NYSP Recruitment Center website
• Union representing Troopers and Supervisors
• Union representing Investigators
• New York State Police collected news and commentary at The New York Times