Illinois State Police
Illinois State Police patch
Illinois State Police patch
Seal of the Illinois State Police
Seal of the Illinois State Police
Badge of an ISP trooper
Badge of an ISP trooper
AbbreviationISP
MottoIntegrity, Service, Pride
Agency overview
FormedApril 1, 1922; 101 years ago (1922-04-01)
Employees2,702 (as of April 1, 2022)[1]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionIllinois, USA
Size57,918 sq mi (140,998 km2)
Population12,671,821 (2020 est.)
Legal jurisdictionIllinois Statewide
Governing bodyGovernor of Illinois
General nature
Operational structure
Overviewed byIllinois State Police Merit Board
Headquarters801 South Seventh Street
Springfield, Illinois
Troopers1,803 (as of April 1, 2022)[1]
Civilian members899 (as of April 1, 2022)[1]
Agency executive
  • Brendan F. Kelly, Director
Facilities
Troops
11
  • 1: Pecatonica, Sterling
  • 2: La Salle, East Moline
  • 3: Des Plaines, Elgin, Joliet
  • 4: Macomb, Metamora
  • 5: Pontiac, Ashkum
  • 6: Springfield, Pittsfield
  • 7: Pesotum
  • 8: Collinsville, Litchfield
  • 9: Effingham, Carmi
  • 10: DuQuoin, Ullin
  • 15: Downers Grove
Patrol carsFord Explorer, Expedition, Taurus, Chevy Caprice, Dodge Chargers, and Harley Davison motorcycles
Website
isp.illinois.gov

The Illinois State Police (ISP) is the state police agency of the 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 15,969 miles of State Highways. Currently, almost 3,000 sworn and civilian personnel make up the Illinois State Police.

Troops & Organization

Demographics comparison
ISP[2]
Male 72%
Female 28%
White 82%
African-American
or Black		 9%
Hispanic 7%
Asian 2%

Organization

The Illinois State Police is currently organized into several divisions, commands, offices and bureaus:

Troops

The Illinois State Police reorganized from Districts into Troops, which went into effect on January 1, 2023:[11][12]

Troop Headquarters Counties Covered
1 Sterling, Pecatonica Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago
2 LaSalle, East Moline Bureau, Henry, LaSalle, Mercer, Putnam, and Rock Island
3 Des Plaines, Elgin, Lockport Boone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy,Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will
4 Macomb, Metamora Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Knox, Marshall, McDonough, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, Warren, and Woodford
5 Ashkum, Pontiac DeWitt, Ford, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston, and McLean
6 Pittsfield, Springfield Adams, Brown, Cass, Christian, Logan, Mason, Menard, Morgan, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler, and Scott
7 Pesotum Champaign, Coles, Douglas, Edgar, Macon, Moultrie, Piatt, Shelby and Vermilion
8 Collinsville, Litchfield Bond, Clinton, Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery, Monroe, St. Clair, and Washington
9 Carmi, Effingham Clark, Clay, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Hamilton,Jasper, Lawrence, Marion, Richland, Wabash, Wayne, and White
10 Du Quoin, Ullin Alexander, Franklin, Gallatin, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Massac, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Union and Williamson
15 Downers Grove Illinois State Tollways

Traffic enforcement

Illinois State Police currently use various methods for speed limit enforcement on Illinois highways. Hand-held and moving RADAR, LIDAR, pacing, air speed utilizing the ISP fleet of aircraft, and time-distance measurement. ISP uses typical marked units (Ford Explorer, Expedition, and Taurus, Chevrolet Caprice) as well as unmarked units. Since 2006, photo radar mounted in vans have been used for speed enforcement in construction zones statewide. Though the vans are manned by ISP officers, Conduent, a private company, provides the vans for a fee.

ISP has four Cessna 182 airplanes used for law enforcement efforts throughout the state. Three of the four aircraft are equipped with forward looking infrared cameras. All pilots assigned to the Air Operations Bureau began their career at ISP as Troopers.  ISP pilots respond to calls for service 24/7 and at no cost to the user agency.  Routine calls for service include but are not limited to missing persons searches, criminal manhunts, surveillance, pursuits, photo/video needs, civil unrest, patrol support, and transportation. Since 1959, ISP has also used aircraft for speed enforcement, using stopwatch time measurement.

Illinois State Police Merit Board

The Illinois State Police Merit Board (Merit Board) administers certification for the appointment and promotion of state police officers, as well as their discipline, removal, demotion, and suspension measures. The Merit Board consists of five civilian members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the State Senate. Each member serves a six-year term and no more than three members may be affiliated with the same political party.

List of ISP superintendents and directors

Superintendents

Directors

 

Deaths

Since the establishment of the Illinois State Police, 67 troopers have died while on duty.[14]

Uniform and Sidearm

The ISP uniform has a distinct look that separate it from its neighbors. Instead of a chocolate brown uniform worn by the Iowa State Patrol, or a light blue on dark blue uniform worn by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, ISP officers wear light tan/khaki shirts, and dark green pants with black trim. Dress uniforms include a jacket that matches the pants. The cold weather gear incorporates a brown, all-weather jacket. Leather duty gear consists of black high gloss clarino holsters, belts, and accessories. ISP officers wear a dark brown campaign hat called a Montana Peak.

The badge, instead of a traditional shield surmounted by an eagle design, is a six-pointed star that reads the rank of the trooper, and the words "Illinois State Police" in black, along with the officer's badge number (beginning in 2002). The badge's sequential inventory number is found stamped on the reverse side of the badge. The badges are silver or chrome plated steel for all ranks below Sergeant, and gold plated for Sergeant and above.

Officers are issued a Glock 22, .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol.

Rank insignia

Rank Insignia
Director
First Deputy Director
Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
Major
Captain
Lieutenant
Master Sergeant
Sergeant
Master Trooper
Trooper First Class
Trooper

See also

Illinois State Police:

General:

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b c USDOJ Statistics Archived November 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers Archived September 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "ISP Strategic Plans". isp.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  4. ^ "Justice Servises Organization". isp.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  5. ^ "Forensics Organization". isp.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  6. ^ "Division of Internal Investigation". isp.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  7. ^ "Patrol Organization". isp.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  8. ^ "Patrol Organization". isp.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  9. ^ "Academy/Training Org Chart". isp.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  10. ^ "The Statewide 911 Division". isp.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  11. ^ msorensen@whig.com, MIKE SORENSEN Herald-Whig Staff Writer. "ISP shifts from patrol districts to patrol troops to better serve state". Herald-Whig. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  12. ^ "ISP Troop Map". isp.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  13. ^ "List of ISP Superintendents and Directors". isp.illinois.gov. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  14. ^ Illinois State Police Fallen Officers. Accessed March 4, 2021.

External links

Illinois state agencies
Highway patrol/state police in the United States
Authority control databases
Categories