NOTE: These pages are neither authorized by nor connected in any official way with the Connecticut Department of Public Safety, Division of State Police; nor do they represent the opinions of that agency or any official of the state of Connecticut. This site was originally constructed because there was no official site.

First State Police Agency in the nation to celebrate One Hundred Years!!

In May, 2003, the Connecticut State Police held its 100 Year Anniversary Ball, the first State Police agency in the nation to reach this milestone.

The Connecticut State Police is one of the oldest state police agencies in the United States.  Its origin dates back to 1903, when the agency was originally formed with five officers to combat the growing problem of illegal liquor manufacturing and transportation.  It may be hard to believe now, but these early state policemen had to rely mostly on the railroad to move about the state.  And even when patrolling by car and motorcycle became possible, there still was no radio system.  Officers on patrol maintained contact with the barracks by telephone.  When the desk officer needed to contact a patrolling trooper, he would make a phone call to one of several stores or gas stations on the man's patrol.  The proprietor would raise a small flag, and the officer would call in when he saw it.  In those days, and even up to the '60s, these men reported to the barracks for duty, went on patrol which consisted of 12 hours or whatever was needed, returned to the barracks for meals and rest, went back out on patrol, and repeated the cycle for 5 or 6 days, when they were given a day off.  There was no overtime, there were no maximum duty hours, and a man never knew where he would end up or when he would get home.  There was also no concept of storing the motorcycles when the weather turned cold.  Troopers rode in all kinds of weather, and stuffed their uniforms with newspaper for insulation.  And nobody got rich. 
Today, the Connecticut State Police has evolved into one of the most respected law enforcement agencies in the world.  Along the way, it has been on the forefront of many important advances in police technology.

Today, the Connecticut State Police is a diverse agency that consists not only of patrol functions, but many other missions, from state fire marshal, with a large arson section, to street gang units, drug enforcement, welfare fraud, and the Emergency Services Unit, which includes a top-notch scuba unit whose members have all completed U.S. Navy dive training;Tactical units, explosive disposal, aviation, marine patrol, and one of the oldest and most advanced K-9 units in the country. Additional units are Major Crime, Casino and Gambling, Organized Crime, Extradition, Intelligence, and a Troop at Bradley International Airport.
The Connecticut State Police also operates one of the most advanced Forensic Laboratories in the world, under the supervision of Doctor Henry Lee, who has investigated many landmark cases - you may remember him from the O.J. Simpson trial, the Jon Benet Ramsey case, and others. Dr. Lee also served as the most recent Commissioner of the Department. 

If you're accustomed to thinking of troopers as highway ticket machines, you might not realize that in Connecticut, there are large rural areas with many small towns that do not have regular police departments of their own. In many other states, county sheriffs provide law enforcement for rural areas. In Connecticut, the sheriff agencies do not have police responsibilities outside of the courts and prisoner transport, and the state police have the job of providing or supervising all law enforcement in these rural towns. This means that when a trooper leaves the barracks on patrol, he or she may have responsibility for coverage of two, three, or even four towns.  The next radio call that a trooper gets may be an armed robbery, burglary, family fight, missing child, or any other type of crime; or it may be a car accident many miles away.  And unlike officers in other agencies, when a Connecticut trooper is assigned to one of these incidents, he or she is expected to handle the full investigation, and does not hand it off to another unit. Even if it's a major crime, like a homicide, the trooper originally assigned stays involved in the case.

State Police men and women also know the meaning of the saying, "Troopers ride alone". In most cases, their nearest backup is a long way off, and probably not available anyway.  New troopers have to learn quickly to be self-sufficient.  And when they make arrests, there's no "wagon" to transport the prisoners, and no "cages" in the cruisers.  This is not a job where you write tickets and eat doughnuts. 

Web page by Tom Seeley,
Lieutenant, CSP Retired