| Alabama State Troopers |
| Abbreviation |
AST |
|
|
| Patch of the Alabama State Troopers. |
|
|
| Alabama Highway Patrol Door Seal |
|
|
| Badge of the Alabama State Troopers. |
| Motto |
Courtesy, Service, Protection |
| Agency overview |
| Formed |
1936 |
| Employees |
1,268 (as of 2004) [1] |
| Legal personality |
Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure |
| Operations jurisdiction* |
State of Alabama, USA |
| Size |
52,419 square miles (135,760 km2) |
| Population |
4,627,851 (2007 est.)[2] |
| General nature |
|
| Operational structure |
| Headquarters |
Montgomery, Alabama |
| Troopers |
681 (as of 2004) [1] |
| Civilians |
587 (as of 2004) [1] |
| Agency executive |
Major Herman Wright, Division Chief |
| Parent agency |
Alabama Department of Public Safety |
| Facilities |
| Posts |
17 |
| Website |
| http://dps.alabama.gov/Home/wfContent.aspx?ID=40&PLH1=plhHome-HighwayPatrol/ |
| Footnotes |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. |
|
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 down-sized vehicles for regular highway patrol duties when 132 AMC Javelins were purchased.[3] This pre-dated, among others, the Camaros and Mustangs that were used by other departments years later. The Javelins came with 401 cu in (6.6 L) 335 horsepower (250 kW; 340 PS) AMC V8 engines, and one of the original cars is now part of the Museum of DPS Headquarters.[4]
[edit] Rank Structure
The Alabama Department of Public Safety rank structure is as listed:
[edit] Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Alabama Highway Patrol, 28 officers have died in the line of duty. The following list also contains officers from when the Alabama Highway Patrol was renamed the Alabama Department of Public Safety.[5]
| Officer |
Date of Death |
Details |
| Patrolman Maury Young |
Saturday, September 5, 1936
|
Motorcycle accident |
| Patrolman William D. Raiford Sr. |
Saturday, October 16, 1937
|
Motorcycle accident |
| Patrolman Arvil O. Hudson |
Tuesday, May 20, 1952
|
Vehicle pursuit |
| Patrolman Henry Preston Bryant |
Sunday, December 7, 1952
|
Vehicle Pursuit |
| Patrolman Julian F. Draughon |
Saturday, October 3, 1953
|
Motorcycle accident |
| Patrolman Howard Brock |
Friday, November 8, 1957
|
Vehicle pursuit |
| Patrolman Joe F. Partin |
Monday, July 25, 1960
|
Motorcycle accident |
| Patrolman Anthony Scozzaro |
Wednesday, December 13, 1961
|
Automobile accident |
| Captain Thomas E. Maxwell |
Thursday, October 4, 1962
|
Automobile accident |
| Sergeant Raymond M. Carlton |
Saturday, February 27, 1965
|
Automobile accident |
| Trooper Randolph G. Glover |
Wednesday, July 19, 1967
|
Automobile accident |
| Trooper Brooks D. Lawson |
Thursday, July 31, 1969
|
Struck by train |
| Corporal Thomas O. Gillilan |
Wednesday, July 1, 1970
|
Gunfire |
| Corporal Harlan B. Blake |
Saturday, October 10, 1970
|
Vehicle pursuit |
| Auxiliary Trooper Ormand Franklin Watkins |
Sunday, April 11, 1971
|
Gunfire |
| Corporal Riley Delano Smith |
Friday, December 17, 1971
|
Electrocuted |
| Trooper James B. Robinson |
Sunday, December 10, 1972
|
Gunfire |
| Trooper Bobby S. Gann |
Thursday, February 21, 1974
|
Gunfire |
| Trooper Kenyon M. Lassiter |
Friday, April 19, 1974
|
Vehicular assault |
| Sergeant Julian Douglas Stuckey |
Thursday, June 27, 1974
|
Automobile accident |
| Trooper Johnnie Earl Booker |
Thursday, November 2, 1978
|
Automobile accident |
| Trooper David E. Temple |
Thursday, September 13, 1979
|
Gunfire |
| Trooper Simmie L. Jeffries |
Friday, December 21, 1984
|
Automobile accident |
| Trooper Larry D. Cawyer |
Saturday, May 25, 1985
|
Automobile accident |
| Trooper Elizabeth S. Cobb |
Sunday, October 11, 1987
|
Gunfire |
| Trooper Robert William Jones |
Thursday, October 3, 1991
|
Automobile accident |
| Trooper Willis Von Moore |
Monday, February 26, 1996
|
Automobile accident |
| Trooper Brian Keith Nichols |
Sunday, February 17, 2002
|
Automobile accident |
[edit] Other notable officers
James Bonard Fowler became a significant player in escalating the acute racial conflict that led to the Selma to Montgomery marches in the American Civil Rights Movement.[6] As a corporal in the Alabama State Police in 1965, he shot and killed an unarmed black man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, but was not prosecuted and convicted for the killing until 45 years later.[6][7] Fowler is also under investigation in the May 8, 1966 death of 34-year-old Nathan Johnson, another unarmed black man.[8] Johnson had been arrested for suspicion of drunken driving on US Highway 31 and was fatally shot by Fowler at the Alabaster, Alabama Police Department.[8][9]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c USDOJ Statistics[dead link]
- ^ "2007 Population Estimates". Census.gov. 2009-01-07. http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
- ^ Newhardt, David; Harholdt, Peter; Yates, Brock (2009). Art of the Muscle Car. MBI Publishing. pp. 182–187. ISBN 978-0-7603-3591-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=ovVg_UkqfikC&pg=PA182&dq=Alabama+AMC+Javelin&hl=en. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
- ^ "The Alabama State Trooper - AMC Javelin". Alabama Department of Public Safety. 2008. http://www.dps.state.al.us/Information/Javelin.aspx. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
- ^ "Alabama Department of Public Safety, Alabama Fallen Officers". Odmp.org. http://odmp.org/agency/33-alabama-department-of-public-safety-alabama. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
- ^ a b Fleming, John (6 March 2005), "The Death of Jimmy Lee Jackson", Anniston Star, http://www.annistonstar.com/view/full_story/2746471/article-The-Death-of-Jimmie-Lee-Jackson?instance=special, retrieved 2008-01-21
- ^ Brown, Robbie (15 November 2010). "45 Years Later, an Apology and 6 Months". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/us/16fowler.html?partner=rss&emc=rss. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ a b Associated, Press (24 November 2009). "FBI: Ex-Alabama trooper Fowler's 1966 killing of black man in Alabaster jail still probed". Anniston Star. http://www.annistonstar.com/view/full_story/4767145/article-FBI-says-ex-trooper-s-1966-jail-killing-probed. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
- ^ Associated, Press (24 November 2009). "FBI says ex-trooper's 1966 killing of black probed". Anniston Star. http://www.annistonstar.com/view/full_story/4767145/article-FBI-says-ex-trooper-s-1966-jail-killing-probed. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
[edit] External links
