Im just curious in whats the difference?

Does state troopers have more authority or do they have a bigger jurisdiction?

And also is the police all government funded or is it private funded aswell?

just wondered since the policecar design is so different from state to state and city to city.

Do state troopers have more authority or do they have a bigger jurisdiction? Little from column A little from B State Troopers are state wide, they have jurisdiction over the entire state. As for authority, it could depend on the state and circumstances

And also is the police all government funded or is it private funded aswell? All police departments are usually state funded, BUT some can use city/town ordinance tickets to pull in money to fund the city/town budget

just wondered since the policecar design is so different from state to state and city to city. Each department has their own design for cars, my town has B&W squads, the town to the west, all white, to the south Blue, to the east B&W to the north, dunno, never go north

Edited June 6, 201213 yr by Asuna

Based on State/city spending budgets, they may have different cars, A fleet of B&W cars are more costly than an all white car.

Do state troopers have more authority or do they have a bigger jurisdiction? Little from column A little from B State Troopers are state wide, they have jurisdiction over the entire state. As for authority, it could depend on the state and circumstances

And also is the police all government funded or is it private funded aswell? All police departments are usually state funded, BUT some can use city/town ordinance tickets to pull in money to fund the city/town budget

just wondered since the policecar design is so different from state to state and city to city. Each department has their own design for cars, my town has B&W squads, the town to the west, all white, to the south Blue, to the east B&W to the north, dunno, never go north

Ok. Thanks for answer :-)

State troopers MOST OFTEN do highway patrol duties. Depending on the state, they may also do general police services. For example, Barrack V of the Maryland State Police assists the local sheriff's office with handling 911 calls. However, in other places, they pretty much only do highway patrol. Troopers will always have statewide jurisdiction, and can enforce any state law anywhere in the state (at least, I'm not aware of anywhere where they're restricted to highways). In addition, troopers often handle guarding state buildings and senior government officials, certain investigations, and assisting local police if necessary.

However, in some states (like California), the jurisdiction difference doesn't exist, because all police officers have full jurisdiction statewide. In that case, it's just a difference in duties.

Police are pretty much all publicly funded. The biggest exceptions are railroad police and campus police. Both railroads and colleges (in the US, most colleges are private, not public) typically have their own police forces.

They have different cars because they're different agencies. It's not like in many countries, where there is one police force with different divisions. In the US, a city police force is entirely separate from a county sheriff, which is separate from state police. In addition, there are no regulations on police car paint schemes (there are some states that require police cars be marked if they're doing traffic enforcement, but as long as it's clearly marked as a police car, it counts as a marked unit).

Edited June 6, 201213 yr by cp702

Yeah like amtrak police, MTA police ect.

Just another set of my two cents...staties are assholes

Yeah like amtrak police, MTA police ect.

I was thinking more like Union Pacific police, actually. Amtrak and MTA are government-run railroads; Union Pacific is entirely private.

I was thinking more like Union Pacific police, actually. Amtrak and MTA are government-run railroads; Union Pacific is entirely private.

I didn't know that.. well I guess you got your answers Kizza

I didn't know that.. well I guess you got your answers Kizza

hehe iguess so to :-)

hehe iguess so to :-)

What about where you live? Any differences between police units?

What about where you live? Any differences between police units?

Not much. We have at least 2 different units and they are not very different. But we have something called "utrykkningspolitiet" and i think they are more on trafficregulations. I will look more up on this and if im wrong please correct me. :-)

depending on the state, some police officers also have state-wide juristiction.

Generally state troopers always have state wide juristiction, generally police departments dont.

Generally state troopers enforce all traffic laws, respond to accidents that are out of towns, etc. It takes a certain kind of person to not mind the smell of brains strewn over the interstate, day after day... well not that often, but you know what i mean - local police dont often deal with the same things.

Generally local police enforce city/town ordaninces along with all the other laws.

But again, this all depends - in the United States, policies, laws, and departments are so different wherever you go. There is never a 'correct' answer for a broad question in LE.

Edit:

Additionally, if you have a bad experiance with a state trooper, etc... just stop and think to yourself, this guy/gal probably sees things on a monthly basis that would give you nightmares for the rest of your life.

Edited June 8, 201213 yr by rushlink

Sorry to slightly derail the original topic, but my question is somewhat related. Does each state have different laws regarding emergency light colours and who can use what? What, if anything, determines which colour a particular area will use?

Here in the UK the law is clear, blue lights (of a particular shade too but anything blue is still restricted) are restricted for authorised emergency use only, reds may be used to the rear to indicate a vehicle is stopped. The battenburg patterns you see on emergency vehicles also are classed as a light (because they reflect light) so are again restricted and each service has their own rights to use a certain colour combination.

This applies to all areas of the UK. In the USA it seems like the different colours in different parts of the country could cause confusion. Take for example a patrol car from state A needs to enter state B; in state A they use all red lights however in state B, they use blue. If said patrol car enters state B with their lights active, do they no longer have the authority to ignore certain traffic laws and such like?

Sorry to slightly derail the original topic, but my question is somewhat related. Does each state have different laws regarding emergency light colours and who can use what? What, if anything, determines which colour a particular area will use?

Here in the UK the law is clear, blue lights (of a particular shade too but anything blue is still restricted) are restricted for authorised emergency use only, reds may be used to the rear to indicate a vehicle is stopped. The battenburg patterns you see on emergency vehicles also are classed as a light (because they reflect light) so are again restricted and each service has their own rights to use a certain colour combination.

This applies to all areas of the UK. In the USA it seems like the different colours in different parts of the country could cause confusion. Take for example a patrol car from state A needs to enter state B; in state A they use all red lights however in state B, they use blue. If said patrol car enters state B with their lights active, do they no longer have the authority to ignore certain traffic laws and such like?

Well i don't know about that, the South US uses blue lights while the north uses red. There is now real reason why that I know about

the north uses red.

Not really.... I live in Maine and all the police around here use blue. Same with New Hampshire.

We're almost as north as you can get. Never in my life have I seen a police car with red lights (but yes I know they exist).

Edited June 8, 201213 yr by Iconography

Light color regulations depend on the state. However, even within a state, there is often variation in light colors. For example, my county PD pretty much uses blue lights (a bit of red, but mostly blue). However, many other counties use normal red/blue.

Also, if a police car in one state enters another state with lights/sirens on, they probably have bigger concerns than violating traffic laws (since they're probably pursuing a suspect).

Just another set of my two cents...staties are assholes

I hear that a lot, and it's probably a case by case scenario like with anything else. Then again they do have to sit in a ditch under a bridge all day and watch for 18-wheelers that block the passing lanes or anybody pushing their speed over 75 (which is pretty much anyone around here).

Sorry to slightly derail the original topic, but my question is somewhat related. Does each state have different laws regarding emergency light colours and who can use what? What, if anything, determines which colour a particular area will use?

Here in the UK the law is clear, blue lights (of a particular shade too but anything blue is still restricted) are restricted for authorised emergency use only, reds may be used to the rear to indicate a vehicle is stopped. The battenburg patterns you see on emergency vehicles also are classed as a light (because they reflect light) so are again restricted and each service has their own rights to use a certain colour combination.

This applies to all areas of the UK. In the USA it seems like the different colours in different parts of the country could cause confusion. Take for example a patrol car from state A needs to enter state B; in state A they use all red lights however in state B, they use blue. If said patrol car enters state B with their lights active, do they no longer have the authority to ignore certain traffic laws and such like?

i yhinks its like that in all countruyes. Skandinavia uses all blue. u.s uses a mixture of blue and red. yellow lights are for construction ,wideload ,slowtraffic etc. I`ve heard and seen that in the us, security uses green lights.

Police can use any. Red & blue were the most common patterns because they'd offer two distinct flashing colors so you wouldn't get too used to a solid red, which could be mistaken for a traffic light. Now police and emergency vehicles add in other colors like white and yellow, and may use them for hazard lights too.

Today, a lot of towns are streamlining their emergency lights to reflect who's coming up behind you. Blue = police, red = fire/ems. Yellow can be used by all as a supplement to the primary light. Security can use green, but a lot of security companies across the U.S. are using yellow because some green lights look too much like blue lights. The laws differ in each state, but in the area of the U.S. I live in: decorative lights on your car (underglow, LED's, etc) cannot match that of an emergency color. No blue, no red. States like California however allow blue & red underglow and LED's. Just not strobes or flashing lights of that color.