South Carolina Highway Patrol

South Carolina state law enforcement agency

The South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) is the highway patrol agency for South Carolina, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state except for federal or military installations. The Highway Patrol was created in 1930 and is an organization with a rank structure similar to the armed forces. The mission of the South Carolina Highway Patrol includes enforcing the rules and regulations in order to ensure road way safety and reducing crime as outlined by South Carolina law. The Highway Patrol is the largest division of the South Carolina Department of Public Safety and its headquarters is located in Blythewood. This department also includes the South Carolina State Transport Police Division, and the South Carolina Bureau of Protective Services. The Highway Patrol has many responsibilities. The primary job of the rank and file trooper is traffic law enforcement. This includes traffic collision investigation, issuing warning tickets and citations for traffic violations, and finding, arresting, and processing impaired drivers. A state trooper is a sworn peace officer, and although their primary duty is traffic enforcement, they can perform other law enforcement functions.

On February 8 1968, SCHP officers fired on anti segregation protesters on the campus of the South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. Three were killed and 28 others were injured. This event came to be called the Orangeburg massacre.

The agency has specific jurisdiction over all South Carolina state highways, U. S. Highways, Interstate highways in the state and all public roads. Local city police or the counties sheriff's department having a contract with an incorporated city have responsibility to investigate and enforce traffic laws in incorporated cities. However, the SCHP can still enforce traffic laws on any public road anywhere in the state regardless if it is in an incorporated or unincorporated city. SCHP has authority over any incident that would require a Trooper's response. SCHP troopers are responsible for investigating and disposing of car accidents, debris, dead animals and other impediments to the free flow of traffic. They are often the first government officials at the scene of an accident (or obstruction), and in turn summon EMS/Fire (although, their dispatch often does this long before they are on scene), tow truck drivers or SCDOT personnel. The SCHP files traffic collision reports for state highways and within unincorporated areas. The patrol has around 800 employees, of whom 650 are sworn Troopers, and 150 civilians.

The SCHP uses a paramilitary rank structure. +InsigniaRank titleInformationColonelCommander of the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Lieutenant ColonelThere are two Troopers who hold the position of Deputy Commander, Overseeing Operations and AdministrationsMajorThere are four Majors in the SCHP. Overseeing Field Operations CaptainA Captain commands one of ten Troops. LieutenantA Lieutenant commands a post, or station. First SergeantA First Sergeant is the second in command of a Post, or station. SergeantA Sergeant commands a patrol shift. CorporalA Corporal acts as a field supervisor. Master TrooperA Master Trooper has served for at least ten years. Lance CorporalA Lance Corporal has served for at least five years. Senior TrooperA Senior Trooper has served for at least three years. Trooper First ClassA Trooper First Class has served for at least eighteen months. TrooperThe base SCHP rank.

Officer Date of Death Details Trooper Daniel Keith Rebman, Jr. October 24, 2017 Automobile crash Corporal D. Kevin Cusack March 27, 2010 Automobile crash Lance Corporal Jonathan S. Nash September 19, 2009 Motorcycle crash Lance Corporal James D. Haynes February 1, 2008 Automobile crash Senior Trooper Jonathan W. Parker May 16, 2005 Vehicular assault Corporal Kenneth Jeffery Johnson July 7, 2002 Gunfire Senior Trooper Michael Joseph Rao June 12, 2002 Struck by vehicle Trooper Eric Francis Nicholson December 6, 2000 Gunfire Lance Corporal David Travis Bailey April 5, 2000 Automobile crash Lance Corporal Jacob Ham Jr. February 8, 1998 Heart attack First Sergeant Frankie Lee Lingard December 31, 1997 Gunfire Lance Corporal Randall Scott Hewitt June 23, 1996 Automobile crash Lance Corporal Michael Allen Chappell April 17, 1995 Automobile crash Trooper Randall Lamar Hester April 20, 1994 Vehicle pursuit Lance Corporal Mark Hunter Coates November 20, 1992 Gunfire Trooper Hardy Merle Godbold February 28, 1992 Vehicle pursuit Trooper David Hunter O'Brien December 14, 1991 Automobile crash Trooper Marvin L. Titus November 12, 1991 Gunfire Trooper Harry McKinley Coker Jr. June 21, 1989 Struck by vehicle TFC George Tillman Radford October 29, 1988 Gunfire TFC Robert Paul Perry Jr. April 15, 1987 Vehicle pursuit TFC Bruce Kenneth Smalls September 27, 1985 Gunfire Corporal John R. Clinton May 24, 1983 Gunfire PFC David Lee Alverson November 13, 1981 Automobile crash Sergeant Robert Aaron Mobley July 19, 1979 Gunfire PFC William Edward Peeples June 8, 1979 Gunfire PFC Ben Wesley Strickland III May 31, 1974 Gunfire Patrolman Fulton House Anthony March 10, 1973 Gunfire Patrolman Roy Odes Caffey October 8, 1972 Gunfire Patrolman James Amechie Traylor December 25, 1970 Gunfire Patrolman Alfred Alexander Thomason July 27, 1970 Automobile crash Corporal Richard Varn Woods August 19, 1969 Gunfire Patrolman Marion Charles Steele September 10, 1966 Gunfire Patrolman John Ray Riddle January 15, 1961 Automobile crash Corporal Henry C. Yonce May 19, 1959 Automobile crash Patrolman Harry Boyd Ray September 7, 1958 Gunfire Patrolman Arnold R. Carter June 18, 1956 Vehicle pursuit Patrolman Albert T. Sealy October 5, 1950 Automobile crash Patrolman Norris Nettles January 4, 1942 Gunfire Patrolman Joseph P. Monroe September 28, 1941 Motorcycle crash Patrolman George Gibbs Broome May 28, 1941 Automobile crash Patrolman Harlan M. Smith September 23, 1940 Motorcycle crash Patrolman Walter T. Bell February 4, 1939 Automobile crash Patrolman L. Lawson Rhodes July 13, 1938 Motorcycle crash Patrolman Kenneth Earl McNeill January 2, 1937 Motorcycle crash Patrolman Edward M. Hennecy November 19, 1935 Motorcycle crash Patrolman Edwin D. Milam December 25, 1934 Gunfire Patrolman Hansford McKinley Reeves February 15, 1934 Motorcycle crash Patrolman John Davenport Cunningham June 1, 1933 Motorcycle crash Patrolman William Pierre Lancaster June 9, 1932 Motorcycle crash Patrolman Ralph W. McCracken October 12, 1931 Motorcycle crash

The South Carolina Highway Patrol use many different varieties of marked, semi marked, and unmarked vehicles, like many other law enforcement agencies in South Carolina and the rest of the United States. Most vehicles are a part of fleets, usually late 1990s to as recent as 2010 Ford Crown Victoria or the modified versions of the Crown Vic (as it is commonly called), The Ford Police Interceptor. Also used are 2007 to present Dodge Charger of modified LX and SRT 8 body styles, and starting in 2012, the Ford Taurus and Ford Explorer, and Chevrolet Tahoe. They also used Chevrolet Caprices, Ford Mustang SSP's, and Ford Crown Victorias.

In 2017, the South Carolina Highway Patrol issues the 9mm Glock Model 17M. Troopers were previously issued the Glock Model 37 .45 GAP and the Glock Model 22 .40 S&W. The last revolver used was the Smith & Wesson Model 66 .357 magnum which is a derivative of the Smith & Wesson Model 19