How many new hampshire state troopers are there

It formulated a comprehensive justification for the necessity of establishing a "State Police" and noted that "… today, with the development of a network of improved highways and the universal use of the automobile, a problem of law enforcement and criminal apprehension has been created for which the established system of local protection had proved inadequate. Up to that point in time, most State and Country criminal investigations were performed by private detective agencies.

A final recommendation by the State Police Commission was concerned directly with the establishment of a Bureau of Records and Identification within the Department of State Police. In reference to this, criminal statistics, fingerprint taking and other methods of identification would be undertaken. The Bureau would also maintain records of revolver purchases and revolver permits issued within the State.

Bill No. According to this statute, the law became effective July 1, During the complement of troopers reached an authorized forty-eight men. These men would serve as the benchmark to what has become a tradition of law enforcement service reaching national acclamation.

These volunteers were not ordinary individuals in any realistic view. Rather, they were truly a special breed, willing to endure long, arduous tours of duty, meager compensation and incredible personal risks. As the first New Hampshire State Troopers, they established an esprit de corps, a philosophy, and a total way of life that has transcended time and the evolution of social values.

Their commitment to excellence without compromise has become the foundation for the proceeding years. Harley Davidson motorcycles and a few Chevrolet sedans were the primary modes of transportation utilized by the early troopers. According to this statute, the law became effective July 1, During the complement of troopers reached an authorized forty-eight men. These men would serve as the benchmark to what has become a tradition of law enforcement service reaching national acclamation.

These volunteers were not ordinary individuals in any realistic view. Rather, they were truly a special breed, willing to endure long, arduous tours of duty, meager compensation and incredible personal risks. As the first New Hampshire State Troopers, they established an esprit de corps, a philosophy, and a total way of life that has transcended time and the evolution of social values.

Their commitment to excellence without compromise has become the foundation for the proceeding years. Harley Davidson motorcycles and a few Chevrolet sedans were the primary modes of transportation utilized by the early troopers. There were five Troops for uniformed operations, and General Headquarters included administration, criminal identification, traffic, and teletype bureaus. Since its inception, the New Hampshire Division of State Police has experienced constant growth and expansion in all areas of endeavor.

This growth includes an increase of sworn personnel to approximately and the creation of a number of highly sophisticated and specialized units.

These inspectors were commonly known as Highway Patrolmen. There is an embossed steel version of this plate that was issued as well as a flat-painted version. It is unknown which version was launched first. Upon the formation of the State Police in , distinctive red over white license plates were launched for NHSP cars. The plates had corner mounting holes as well as two elongated oval mounting slots on the top and bottom of the plate.

An assignment number up to two digits occupied the right field of the plate. The plate had an embossed perimter border.

These license plates were used by the NHSP right through to Around , the NHSP introduced a flat silkscreened license plate made initially on steel and later on sign grade aluminum. The color and format followed the previous issue. The N H was also centered more to the left side of the plate.

The older embossed steel license plates were also still used concurrent to this issue. License plates of the NHSP followed suit, and in some cases: in drastic fashion. This can be seen on NHSP plate number 38 seen below. Newer issues such as plate number 86 shown further down, were made in the new and proper 6" x 12" fashion, however they were made over the older issues that had already been made the year before.

These newer issues also all used periods after the N and the H. If one looks at the right edge profile of this plate, markings are visible of where the other half inch of the plate had been cut off prior to the new sheeting being applied. These plates were used until Beginning in , many of the flat-screened NHSP license plates from the years prior, were recycled and used as Tramway Registration plates for use on New Hampshire ski industry conveyances such as the Tramways used on Cannon Mountain in Franconia.

The registration of such conveyances was established by the state's Department of Safety to oversee the safe and enjoyable use of the the state's ski industry resources. These Tramway registration plates indicate the annual safety inspection conducted to ensure compliance with the law and safe operating procedures.

The reverse side of some of these "Tram plates" have revealed many former New Hampshire State Police license plates all the flat-screened type that were trimmed down to the smaller size used for the Tram plates. Some were never painted at all and show the "previous life" of the State Police functions it was once attributed towards. Seen below is an example of an "uncovered" flip-side of a late 's New Hampshire State Police license plate 82 that was trimmed down and once painted black to be the underside of New Hampshire Department of Safety Tramway Registration , validated up to As stated earlier, in , the New Hampshire State Police became a division of the newly-formed Department of Safety.

As a result, the NHSP began running newly-designed license plates on their marked patrol vehicles. The earliest versions were made of embossed aluminum with no background color raw aluminum and consisted of four mounting holes on the top of the plate and four on the bottom which included corner holes.

These characters as well as the perimeter border were painted in dark green. STATE over POLICE was embossed in the left center field of the plate and painted in red, and the assignment number up to three digits was embossed in small 2" high dies also painted in red. It is unknown if this plate is a one-off prototype or if it was a short-lived issue.

Given that no other evidence of any other plate of this type has been uncovered, it is likely that it was indeed a prototype from that era.

It was during this time that it is believed that the NHSP began to gradually re-plate the fleet by adding a reflective white background and moving the state name to the bottom of the plate and DEPT. It appears that the plates had all the embossed portions painted in dark green on the production run, but then re-ran the plates through the painting process by adding red paint over the STATE POLICE and assignment number of the plate.

This layout continued with minor material and die variations until which is why most of these plates have the dark green paint visible beneath the red. It is also widely believed that it was also during this time when the assignment number of the license plate reflected the Troop and radio call number of the trooper. As the years progressed, the number blocs increased for each Troop. Headquarters officers, investigators, communications and other specialized services ran single and double digit numbers.

Contrary to the full hundred-number blocs used to represent each Troop as known today, the earliest number assignments were split at the 50 mark in each bloc of For example by Troop A Epping was assigned the bloc.

Troop B Milford was assigned the bloc. Troop C Keene was assigned the bloc. Troop D Concord was assigned the bloc. Troop E West Ossipee was assigned the bloc.

Troop F Twin Mountain was assigned the bloc. Turnpike Troop numbers were assigned in the bloc Trainees numbers were assigned in the bloc. The Commander for each troop, usually a Lieutenant was assigned the "double zero" plate for the given Troop such as , , , etc The Assistant Troop Commander would have the 01 designation, such as , , , etc The 02 to 06 numbers would typically be issued Sergeants or Corporals Corporal rank later abandoned and numbers up to 49 would be road troopers based on assignment number.

The plates continued in use well-into as the fleet began to get re-plated with a new style introduced that year. Troop designations are further described on map shown further below. Typically broken-down this way but with some shifts in number blocks over time: Numbers 1- 16 were allocated to senior HQ Staff.

Plates with numbers in the 's were dedicated to mostly probationary troopers and series numbers were issued to NHSP vehicles not tied to a particular troop or assignment. In , a new version of the older format license plate for NHSP was introduced. This version of the NHSP license plate was distinctive by the smaller dies used for the state name on the lower portion of the plate. The smaller dies allowed the state name to be situated centered between the lower bolt holes. Courtesy of Dana Finn.

In , the New Hampshire State Police issued brand new license plates as part of a fleet-wide change-over. The plates were still made of embossed aluminium with a reflective white background but used a step border instead of an embossed border.

The inside line of the step border was silkscreened in medium green, as was DEPT. The practice of painting the red over the green was discontinued when this base was introduced. These plates used subdued holograms embedded in the reflective sheeting which showed a vertical pattern of state silhouettes with 96 in the center. These plates did not prove popular and were only used until late The new plates were still made of embossed aluminum and with a step border but with no contrasting outline.

This version is still in use as of this writing. The earliest motorcycle license plates used by the New Hampshire State Police were regular-issue motorcycle license plates with low numbers. Most of the numbers seen on the earliest NHSP motor units had numbers from the 10's up into the 50's.