SHOULDER STRAP
This black leather strap is called a Sam Browne belt, and it helps secure the trooper's duty belt.
NAME PLATE - This identifies the trooper with his first initial, middle initial, and last name.
PENS - Troopers need pens to write tickets and warnings to motorists. They use computers to write their reports.
WHISTLE CHAIN - The trooper's whistle and the rest of the chain sit in the breast pocket.
TROOP INSIGNIA
This pin indicates where in the state the trooper works.
RANK INSIGNIA
This pin indicates the trooper's rank, such as lieutenant or major.
DUTY BELT
When loaded with equipment, a trooper's duty belt weighs about 23 pounds. While on duty troopers carry the following items on their duty belt...
- .45 caliber, semi-automatic handgun
- extra ammunition
- pepper spray
- handcuffs
- radio, cell phone, and / or pager
- baton
BADGE
Troopers receive their badges when they graduate from the Training Academy. The badge also indicates the trooper's rank.
SHOULDER PATCH
Every state's law enforcement agency has a different shoulder patch. The Kansas Highway Patrol's includes the state's seal.
CAMPAIGN HAT
Troopers wear this distinct hat at all times except when they are indoors or in the patrol vehicle, or when they remove it as a gesture of respect.
A TROOPER'S DAY, OR NIGHT
The average trooper's commute is not very far: From the front door to the patrol car. As a trooper, the car is your office, where you will watch for violators, communicate with dispatchers, and fill out forms.
Your shift might be during the day or at night, but you will go to the troop or zone office to check in with supervisors and peers and use computers a few times during the shift. Eventually, you will also need to stop somewhere for gas, food, and a rest break.
You did not know it at the academy, but a lot of your job depends upon the weather. If it rains or snows, you will probably be handling a traffic accident today. If the weather is nice, you might be stopping more speeders.
Even when it is really hot out, you wear a five to six-pound bullet proof vest under your dark uniform and carry approximately 23 pounds of equipment, including a gun, baton, pepper spray, radio, handcuffs, and flashlight.
Like other troopers, you listen closely to the radio in case your services are needed in a chase, at a stop, or during a special incident. You are constantly watching for all kinds of violations...
Are those kids buckled up?
Is the sticker on that license plate up to date?
Does that car have two side mirrors or a rear view mirror on the windshield?
On a highway or street, you will turn on the radar and look for speeders.If you arrest someone today, most likely a drunk driver, you will put the subject in the passenger seat beside you, hands cuffed behind the back. You would not put him or her in the backseat because you want to keep an eye on the subject all the way to the jail, and there is no screen between the back and front seat to protect you from a surprise attack.
There is a speeder now, going fifteen miles per hour over the limit. Turn on the lights and siren, turn onto the grassy median of the four-lane highway, and turn around. Good, he is stopping without a chase. You report your activity to a dispatcher and read the license plate. Putting on your hat, you look for traffic, and get out of the patrol car. The camera on the dashboard is already on, and the microphone on your shoulder records the conversation with the driver.
This time, the driver admits he was speeding and is polite. You go back to your car to hear dispatch say the vehicle is registered to the driver and that the driver has a clean record. You fill out the forms for a ticket, watch for traffic, and give the paper ticket to the driver. After reporting the activity to dispatch, you do a little more paper work and are back on the road.
For the rest of the shift, you will continue to patrol, providing the citizens and travelers in Kansas with service, courtesy, and protection, and using the skills you learned at the academy and with your field training officer.
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OTHER CAREERS WITH THE PATROL
Of course, your shift might be different if you are in one of these special units:
THE BREATH ALCOHOL UNIT -
Trains troopers and local law enforcement officers how to recognize and test impaired drivers.CRIMINAL INTERDICTION -
Gathers intelligence and investigates criminals. Troopers in the department are members of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) task force or an FBI task force that focuses on foreign and domestic terrorism.CRITICAL HIGHWAY ACCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM (CHART) -
Conducts in-depth investigations of serious accidents. They can reconstruct the accident and determine its cause.EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT -
Is based in Topeka and prepares for disasters and emergencies. The small team coordinates the Patrol's efforts with other agencies, trains people, and responds to the incidents.EXECUTIVE PROTECTION -
Is responsible for transporting and protecting the governor, the first family, the lieutenant governor, and visiting dignitaries.FLIGHT OPERATIONS -
Using both helicopters and small planes, the Patrol transports law enforcement officers, canines, blood and organs. The aircraft can also be used for traffic enforcement and tracking subjects.HONOR GUARD -
Represents the Patrol on special occasions such as inaugurations, funerals, and memorial services.MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (MCSAP) -
Inspects commercial vehicles, usually semi-trucks, and enforces regulations.MOTOR VEHICLE ENFORCEMENT (MVE) -
Inspectors look at non-highway/salvage vehicles, homemade and manufactured trailers, assembled or restored vehicles, body changes, and court orders to make sure that no vehicle parts have been stolen.PUBLIC RESOURCE OFFICERS (PROs) -
Make safety presentations to schools and community groups. Each of the seven field troops has a PRO who answers questions from the public and works with the local media.SERVICE DOG UNITS -
Can find drugs and bombs, track criminals or missing persons, and protect the handler. The canines can be tools or even weapons. The handlers spend a lot of time training the dogs, and some help other agencies with their dogs.SPECIAL RESPONSE TEAM -
Like a SWAT Team, they assist the Patrol and other agencies with serving high-risk warrants, marijuana eradication, and dealing with barricaded subjects and hostage situations. They are assigned to regular patrol duties but respond to special incidents when called.THE CAPITOL POLICE -
Acts as a full-service law enforcement agency in Shawnee County, Kansas. Capitol Police Officers enforce traffic laws, investigate accidents, give emergency medical assistance, and assist citizens visiting the Capitol Complex. They also provide security at the Governor's residence, Kansas Judicial Center and the Memorial Building.CIVILIAN POSITIONS -
There are many non-uniformed jobs inside the Patrol, from secretaries to attorneys, managers to auto mechanics, computer technicians and programmers to accountants.COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALISTS -
Face a variety of challenging duties, most of which support troopers and their activities. They also deal with other law enforcement activities, the public, and criminal justice agencies. They learn to interpret and spread information to track and apprehend criminals, help investigations, and identify stolen property. The specialists coordinate emergency medical relays across the state that use aircraft and ground units. They also provide communications in civil disturbances, riots and disasters.MOTORIST ASSISTANCE -
In Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita, civilian technicians help stranded drivers and manage traffic. They do everything from fixing flat tires to removing vehicles from the road.MOTOR CARRIER INSPECTORS (MCI) -
Enforce laws for commercial motor vehicles, mostly semi-trucks. They can make arrests, help stranded drivers, teach about safety and the laws, testify in court, give emergency medical assistance, and assist during civil disturbances, riots and natural disasters. Some work at weigh/inspection stations, and others patrol in pick-up trucks. Sometimes Motor Carrier Inspectors weigh more than trucks. A few inspectors have used their portable scales to weigh elephants in zoos.VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (VIN) INSPECTORS -
Every vehicle has its own vehicle identification number, a 17-digit number that tells a vehicle's make, model, where it was manufactured, and some of its optional equipment. It can be used to track recalls, registrations, thefts and insurance coverage. At stations throughout Kansas, VIN inspectors check the numbers to make sure they agree with a car's paperwork.< Back to Top >
EQUIPMENT
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