Florida Highway Patrol - Organization

Organization

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is a state government agency which reports to the governor of Florida and the Florida Cabinet. The DHSMV is headquartered at the Neil Kirkman Building in Tallahassee, the state capital. Julie Jones is the executive director of DHSMV. David Westberry is deputy executive director.

The director of the Florida Highway Patrol holds the rank of colonel. The organization has six bureaus:

• Bureau of Field Operations North and West (troops A, B, C, F, and H)
• Bureau of Field Operations South and East (troops D, E, G, K and L);
• Bureau of Special Operations (training and leadership, program planning, fleet and property, accreditation and policy, aviation, employee selection, recruitment, background investigation, polygraph, and budget)
• Bureau of Law Enforcement Support Services (EOC/domestic security, communications, lieutenant governor aide-de-camp, inspections, Auxiliary and Reserve, technology and communications, contraband interdiction, and traffic homicide)
• Bureau of Motor Carrier Compliance (commercial vehicle safety inspections)
• Bureau of Investigations.

The Bureau of Investigations is commanded by a major, while the other four bureaus are each commanded by a deputy director, a lieutenant colonel. Nine field troops are commanded by personnel with the rank of major, which are divided by regions geographically located across the state. A tenth troop handles the Florida Turnpike operations.

Troops are subdivided into 30 district headquarters, each commanded by a captain. Florida Highway Patrol officers are called State Troopers (not Highway Patrolmen, as in some states).

The FHP and its troopers are state law enforcement officers (LEOs), and as such are considered police officers. They have the power to enforce Florida state law and make arrests. Still, they are not state police: the Florida Constitution stipulates that the chief law enforcement officer of a Florida county is that county's sheriff.

The function of the FHP is to the safety of State Roads, U.S. Highways, and Interstate Highways in Florida. Florida has an investigative department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, analogous to the FBI.

In addition to the FHP, Florida's highways were patrolled by the Florida Department of Transportation's Office of Motor Carrier Compliance (MCCO), a state law enforcement agency responsible for commercial vehicle laws in the state. As of July 1, 2011, the Office of Motor Carrier Compliance officially transitioned from the Florida Department of Transportation to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ Division of the Florida Highway Patrol as a bureau. The consolidation is a result of Senate Bill 2160, passed by lawmakers during the 2011 Legislative Session, and places the commercial vehicle licensing, registrations, fuel permits, and enforcement all under the purview of DHSMV.

The FHP was created in 1939 with 60 uniformed officers.

There have been 41 state troopers killed in the line of duty since its founding: 19 died by gunshot, 17 in automobile crashes, five in aircraft crashes, and one in an explosion. The authorized strength of the FHP is 2360: 1813 sworn, 547 non-sworn.

The FHP Reserve consists of 110 volunteer members who have the authority to bear arms and make arrests but receive no compensation.

The FHP Auxiliary consists of 500 volunteer members who are armed and wear similar but distinctive uniforms. They assist troopers throughout the state. They have the authority to bear arms and the power to arrest violators while under the direct supervision of, or are in radio or telephone contact with a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper. They receive no compensation for their duties assisting the patrol.