California Highway Patrol

California Highway Patrol
Patch
Door shield
Badge
Flag
Abbreviation	CHP
Motto	Safety, Service, and Security
Agency overview
Formed	August 14, 1929; 94 years ago (1929-08-14)
Employees	10,000+ (as of 2023)[1]
Annual budget	$3.2 billion (as of 2023)[2]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	California, U.S.
Map of California Highway Patrol's jurisdiction
Size	163,696 square miles (423,970 km2)
Population	39,613,500 (2019 est.)[3]
Legal jurisdiction	Statewide
Governing body	California State Legislature
Constituting instrument	Senate Bill 869
General nature	Civilian police
Specialist jurisdiction	Highways, roads, and/or traffic.
Operational structure
Headquarters	Sacramento, California, United States
Sworn members	6,406 (authorized, as of 2023) 5,444 sworn as of December 2023 [4]
Civilian members	3,000+ (as of 2023)[1]
Commissioner responsible	Sean Duryee
Parent agency	California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA)
Divisions	8
Facilities
Stations	16 Commercial Enforcement Facilities 103 Area Offices
Actual patrol cars	Ford Explorer 2016/2020 Ford Super Duty Truck Ram Truck Dodge Charger 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe 2015/2023
Motorcycles	Harley Davidson Electra Glide
Planes	Cessna 206 GippsAero GA8 Airvan
Helicopters	Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil
Website
www.chp.ca.gov

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the principal state police agency for the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enforcement powers anywhere within the state. The California Highway Patrol can assist local and county agencies and can patrol major city streets along with local and county law enforcement, state and interstate highways, and is the primary law enforcement agency in rural parts of the state.

The California State Legislature originally established the California Highway Patrol as a branch of the Division of Motor Vehicles in the Department of Public Works, with legislation signed by Governor C. C. Young on August 14, 1929. It was subsequently established as a separate department with legislation signed by Governor Earl Warren in 1947. The CHP gradually assumed increased responsibility beyond the enforcement of the State Vehicle Act and eventually merged with the smaller California State Police in 1995.^[5] It is currently organized as part of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA).

In addition to its highway patrol duties, the CHP also provides other services including protecting state buildings and facilities (most notably the California State Capitol) and guarding state officials. The CHP also works with municipal and federal law enforcement agencies, providing assistance in investigations, patrol and other aspects of law enforcement.

The California Highway Patrol is the largest state police agency in the United States, with 11,000 employees, over 7,600 of whom are sworn officers, according to a study in December 2019.

The CHP gained international recognition in the late 1970s to the early 1980s through the broadcast of the TV series CHiPs, which chronicled the adventures of two fictional CHP motorcycle officers and served as technical advisors to the 1950s TV show Highway Patrol.^{[clarification needed]}