State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

s, typically in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, and

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

. These forces typically have jurisdiction over the relevant sub-national jurisdiction, and may cooperate in law enforcement activities with municipal or national police where either exist.

Argentina

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, as a federal country, each

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

has its own independent police force and its responsible of its funding, training and equipment. State police agencies are responsible of all the territory of a determinate state. There is almost no municipal/local law enforcement in Argentina, and if there is, they are generally limited to traffic duties.

Australia

Prior to the

Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Wester ...

, each colony within Australia had numerous police forces, but these were largely amalgamated well before federation. Today each state of Australia, as well as the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, has its own state police force. Municipalities do not have police forces and it is left to the state forces to police all geographic areas within their respective states. Australia does have a national police force, the Australian Federal Police, whose role is to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth, both criminal law and civil law, as well as to protect the interests of the Commonwealth, both domestically and internationally. The AFP does, however, provide policing for the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

, Jervis Bay Territory, and Australia's other external territories such as

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The state and territory police forces are: *

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,60 ...

* Northern Territory Police * Queensland Police Service * South Australia Police * Tasmania Police * Victoria Police * Western Australia Police

Brazil

Each federative unit in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, beside its military firefighters corps and its penal and scientific polices, has two main police corporations working together with different skills: :'' Civil Police'' — The nonuniformed judiciary police, mainly responsible for investigating criminal offenses occurring in their territories. They're mainly based on Delegates (necessarily bachelors of laws), Clerks, Investigators and/or Agents and also responds for its Scientific Polices (responsible for

forensic science Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

activities and services) in the

Federal District A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or the ...

and other 8 states. :''

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

'' — The uniformed and militarily hierarchical police officers perform, under a gendarmerie system, police functions of patrolling, approaching and capturing, also serving as reserve branches of the Brazilian Armed Forces (more specifically its Brazilian Army). They make up the majority of the police force in Brazil, but don't perform regular

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

functions (as they're reservedly performed by Brazilian Army Police Offices on duty, such as the Army Police (Brazil)) because they're primarily subordinated to its

governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. In

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, the

also operates its Military Firefighters Corps. In

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

Canada

Law enforcement in Canada operates at the federal, provincial, and local levels. Three

provinces of Canada A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

have a dedicated police force, with jurisdiction over some or all of the province: *

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the State police, provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. The OPP patrols Provincial highways in Ontario, provincial highways and waterways; protects Government of Ontario, provincial government buil ...

(

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

) * Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

) * Sûreté du Québec (

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

) * Saskatchewan Marshalls Service (

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

) The federal

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP) provides provincial-level policing in the remaining land area of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the remaining seven provinces and three territories. The RCMP began being contracted to provide provincial policing in the late 1920s as provincial police forces were disbanded and their duties contracted out to provincial divisions of the RCMP. The most recent provincial police force to be disbanded, the British Columbia Provincial Police, existed from the mid-19th century until its jurisdiction was transferred to RCMP "E" Division on August 15, 1950. Provinces which have disbanded their provincial police may retain other provincial law enforcement agencies, such as sheriff services or

conservation officer A conservation officer is a law enforcement officer who protects wildlife and the environment. A conservation officer may also be referred to as an environmental technician/technologist, game warden, park ranger, forest watcher, forest guard, ...

s. For example, the Alberta Sheriffs Branch is responsible for traffic enforcement in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

together with the RCMP, despite being a law enforcement agency and not a police force.

Germany

Hamburg Police BMW R 1250 RT at Hamburg Marathon 2019 01

The ''

Landespolizei ; ) is a term used to refer to the state police of any of the states of Germany. History The of today can trace its origins to the late 19th century, when Germany united into a single country in 1871, under Otto von Bismarck. Various ...

'' (or LaPo) is a term used in the Federal Republic of Germany to denote the law enforcement services that perform law enforcement duties in the

states of Germany The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...

. The German federal constitution leaves the majority of law enforcement responsibilities to the 16 states of the country. * Baden-Württemberg Police * Bavarian State Police * Berlin Police *Brandenburg Police * Bremen Police * Hamburg Police * Hesse State Police *Lower Saxony Police *Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Police * North Rhine-Westphalia Police * Rhineland-Palatinate Police * Saarland Police *Saxony Police *Saxony-Anhalt Police * Schleswig-Holstein Police *Thuringia Police There also are several auxiliary state police forces. * Baden-Württemberg Voluntary Police Service * Bavarian Security Watch * Brandenburg Security Partner * Hesse Voluntary Police Service * Saxony Security Watch

Italy

The

Polizia di Stato The (State Police or P.S.) is one of the national Law enforcement in Italy, police forces of Italy. Alongside the Carabinieri, it is the main police force for providing police duties, primarily to cities and large towns, and with its child agen ...

(State Police), law enforcement in Italy.

India

Delhi Police Jaguar Team Central District

The

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

delineates the roles and responsibilities of both the central and state governments, with matters related to police, public order, and law and order falling under the purview of the state governments. India has 28 state police agencies. Each state has a state police force and its own distinct state police services, headed by the director general of police (DGP) or

commissioner of police A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

(in metropolitan areas), who is an Indian Police Service officer. The state police forces operate under the authority of the respective state governments and are empowered to enforce laws, prevent crime, investigate offenses, and maintain public order. Most municipal or city police forces operate under their respective state police departments, with the exception of the

Kolkata Police The Kolkata Police () (formerly "Calcutta Police"), is the Law enforcement in India, territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and crime prevention within the Kolkata metropolitan region, metropolitan area of the city of Kolkata, ...

. State police agencies typically have jurisdiction across the entire state. However, in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, the jurisdiction of the state police excludes

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, which is served by the Kolkata Police. The police forces of union territories in India are either directly or indirectly under the purview of the union government. Unlike state police forces, the Delhi Police operate under the direct control of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, government of India due to Delhi's status as both the national capital territory and a union territory. While they function under the respective union territory administrations for day-to-day operations and governance, their ultimate authority and oversight lie with the central government. The Indian Police Service (IPS) is not a law enforcement agency in its own right; rather it is the body to which all senior police officers of all states belong regardless of the agency for whom they work. The IPS officers provide senior level leadership to law enforcement agencies, both at the state and federal levels.

Mexico

Each of the 32 states of Mexico maintains a separate law enforcement agency or ''Policía Estatal''. Each of these state forces is tasked with the protection of their citizens, keeping local order and combating insecurity and drug trafficking. Certain states including

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

and

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

have a new model of police force designated as ''civilian forces'' (''Fuerza Civil''). *

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes, is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and with an average altitude of above sea level it is pre ...

State Police *

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

State Police * Baja California Sur State Police * Campeche State Police *

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

State Police * Chihuahua State Police * Coahuila State Police *

Colima Colima, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima, is among the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima. Colima is a small state of western Mexico on the cen ...

State Police *

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

State Police *

Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...

State Police *

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

State Police * Hidalgo State Police *

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

State Police * Mexico City Police, a special case in both state and municipal duties throughout the 16 Boroughs of Mexico City *

State of Mexico The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is the mo ...

Police *

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

State Police (Replaced in 2020 with Michoacán State Highway Patrol) * Morelos State Police * Nayarit State Police *

Civil Force *

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

State Police *

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

State Police *

Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

State Police * Quintana Roo State Police *

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

State Police *

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

State Police *

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

State Police *

Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...

State Police * Tamaulipas State Police * Tlaxcala State Police *

State Police (Replaced with civil force in 2014) * Yucatán State Police *

Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...

State Police

Spain

In Spain there are autonomous police forces in four of its seventeen autonomous communities and two cities. * Ertzainas in the Basque Country * Mossos d'Esquadra in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

* Policía Foral in Navarre * Policía Canaria in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Apart from this, some autonomous communities (

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, Galicia and

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

) have a special division part of the National Police Corps and autonomous government of each community.

United States

In the United States, state police (also termed highway patrol, state patrol, or state highway patrol), or ''state troopers'', are a police body unique to 49 of the U.S. states, having statewide authority to conduct law enforcement activities and criminal investigations. Hawaii, despite a widely dispersed

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

and having four separate county-based police agencies, still has its own statewide policing agency. In general, these police agencies perform functions outside the jurisdiction of the county sheriff, such as enforcing traffic laws on

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

s and interstate expressways, overseeing the security of the state capitol complex, protecting the governor, training new officers for local police forces too small to operate an academy, providing technological and scientific services, supporting local police and helping to coordinate multi-jurisdictional task force activity in serious or complicated cases in those states that grant full police powers statewide. A general trend has been to bring all of these agencies under a state department of public safety. Additionally, they may serve under different state departments such as the highway patrol under the state department of transportation and the marine patrol under the state

department of natural resources This article lists subnational environmental agencies in the United States, by state. Agencies that are responsible for state-level regulating, monitoring, managing, and protecting environmental and public health concerns. The exact duties of ...

. Twenty-three U.S. states use the term ''state police'', fifteen use the term ''highway patrol'', seven use the term ''state patrol'', and three use the term ''state highway patrol'', while Alaska's agency is the "Division of Alaska State Troopers". The term ''highway patrol'' tends to be more common in the

southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

and mountain west states. Hawaii is the only state with a Sheriff Division of the Hawaii Department of Law Enforcement with statewide jurisdiction. * Alabama Highway Patrol * Alaska State Troopers * Arizona Highway Patrol * Arkansas State Police * California Highway Patrol * Colorado State Patrol * Connecticut State Police * Delaware State Police * Florida Highway Patrol * Georgia State Patrol * Hawaii State Sheriff * Idaho State Police *

Illinois State Police The Illinois State Police (ISP) is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. The Illinois State Police is responsible for traffic safety on more than 300,000 miles of total roadway, including 2,185 miles of interstate highways and ...

* Indiana State Police * Iowa State Patrol * Kansas Highway Patrol * Kentucky State Police * Louisiana State Police * Maine State Police * Maryland State Police * Massachusetts State Police * Michigan State Police * Minnesota State Patrol * Mississippi Highway Patrol * Missouri State Highway Patrol * Montana Highway Patrol * Nebraska State Patrol * Nevada State Police * New Hampshire State Police * New Jersey State Police * New Mexico State Police * New York State Police * North Carolina State Highway Patrol * North Dakota Highway Patrol * Ohio State Highway Patrol * Oklahoma Highway Patrol * Oregon State Police * Pennsylvania State Police * Rhode Island State Police * South Carolina Highway Patrol * South Dakota Highway Patrol * Tennessee Highway Patrol * Texas Highway Patrol * Utah Highway Patrol * Vermont State Police * Virginia State Police * Washington State Patrol * West Virginia State Police * Wisconsin State Patrol * Wyoming Highway Patrol In addition, the

Federal district A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or the ...

and all

territories of the United States Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions and dependent territory, dependent territories overseen by the federal government of the United States. The American territories differ from the U.S. states and Indi ...

have a police force with similar territory-wide authority: District of Columbia: * Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia United States territories: * American Samoa Department of Public Safety * Guam Police Department * Northern Mariana Islands Department of Public Safety *

Puerto Rico Police The Puerto Rico Police (PPR; , ), officially the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (, ), is a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the entire Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a division of the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safe ...

* U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department

References

External links

PoliceLink.com

State Trooper Directory

{{DEFAULTSORT:State Police Law enforcement in the United States Law enforcement units

Argentina

Australia

Brazil

Canada

Germany

Italy

India

Mexico

Spain

United States

See also

References

External links