The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The Pennsylvania State Police is a full service law enforcement agency which handles both traffic and criminal law enforcement. The Pennsylvania State Police was founded in 1905 by order of Governor Samuel Pennypacker, by signing Senate Bill 278 on May 2, 1905. The bill was signed in response to the Great Anthracite Strike of 1902. Leading up to the Anthracite Strike, private police forces (the coal and iron police) were used by mine and mill owners to stop worker strikes. The inability or refusal of local constables or sheriffs' offices to enforce the law directly influenced the signing of Bill 278. The Anthracite Strike lasted from May 15 to October 23, 1902, and was ended with the help of Theodore Roosevelt, the sitting president at the time.
PSP enlisted members are referred to as "Troopers". Up until 1963, married men were not allowed to apply to the state police, and active troopers had to seek permission from their superior officer to get married. As of 2021, the state police has approximately 4,547 State Troopers and more than 1,850 civilian support staff."About the Pennsylvania State Police". Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 12-08-2014.
Pennsylvania State Police Academy In 1924, a State Police training academy was built in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on Cocoa Avenue. The site was located at the Hershey Inn and it remained at this location until 1960 when it was moved to 175 Hersheypark Drive, Hershey, Pennsylvania. The current location is fitted with kennels, stables and a range, among other facilities, and is located only a few miles from the original site. Once accepted into the Pennsylvania State Police Academy cadets endure a rigorous 28-week training period. Cadets live at the academy in barracks style quarters and are only permitted to go home on designated weekends. Cadets who fail to complete physical training in required times or who show any other type of deficiencies may be restricted from going home. While attending training, cadets are put on an 18-month probationary period and can be dismissed at any point in their training by the commissioner under any form of incompetence, inefficiency, or general violation of rules and regulations. The current drop-out rate for new recruits in the academy is approximately 20 percent per class.
Operations Under Pennsylvania law, a municipality may choose to have the state police act as its local law enforcement, and the municipality does not have to pay any fees to do so. Unlike other states, Pennsylvania does not use county sheriff's offices to patrol areas without local police, and so the PSP covers areas without local police departments. 1,287 municipalities in the state used the PSP as their only local law enforcement. The full PSP municipalities that have a population of 10,000 or below combined have about 17% of the total number of people in Pennsylvania; these municipalities make up about 50% of the total municipalities in the state. In 2019, about 66% of the municipalities in the state had PSP as the sole law enforcement or had a part-time police force combined with PSP. all areas in the following counties use PSP as their local law enforcement (either fully, or with part-time police departments): Cameron, Forest, Fulton, Juniata, Potter, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming.
Facilities The PSP owns and operates various facilities to conduct law enforcement operations across the Commonwealth.
The following is the breakdown:
Barracks listing by county County Troop StationAdams H GettysburgAllegheny B PittsburghAllegheny T GibsoniaAllegheny T Jefferson HillsArmstrong D KittanningBeaver D BeaverBedford G BedfordBedford T EverettBerks L ReadingBerks L HamburgBlair G HollidaysburgBradford P TowandaBucks M TrevoseBucks M DublinButler D ButlerCambria A EbensburgCameron F EmporiumCarbon T PoconoCarbon N LehightonCentre G RockviewChester J AvondaleChester J EmbreevilleClarion C ClarionClearfield C ClearfieldClearfield C DuBoisClinton F LamarColumbia N BloomsburgCrawford E MeadvilleCumberland H CarlisleCumberland T NewvilleDauphin T HighspireDauphin H HarrisburgDauphin H LykensDelaware K MediaElk C RidgwayErie E ErieErie E CorryErie E GirardFayette B UniontownForest C MarienvilleFranklin H ChambersburgFulton G McConnellsburgGreene B WaynesburgHuntingdon G HuntingdonIndiana A IndianaJefferson C PunxsutawneyLackawanna R DunmoreLancaster T BowmansvilleLancaster J LancasterLawrence D New CastleLebanon L JonestownLehigh M FogelsvilleLehigh M BethlehemLuzerne N HazletonLuzerne P ShickshinnyLuzerne P WyomingLycoming F MontoursvilleMcKean C Lewis RunMercer D MercerMifflin G LewistownMonroe N StroudsburgMonroe N Fern RidgeMontgomery T King of PrussiaMontgomery K SkippackNorthampton M BelfastNorthumberland F StoningtonNorthumberland F MiltonPerry H NewportPhiladelphia K PhiladelphiaPike R Blooming GrovePotter F CoudersportSchuylkill L Schuylkill HavenSchuylkill L FrackvilleSnyder F SelinsgroveSomerset A SomersetSomerset T SomersetSullivan P LaporteSusquehanna R GibsonTioga F MansfieldUnion F MiltonVenango E FranklinWarren E WarrenWashington B WashingtonWayne R HonesdaleWestmoreland A GreensburgWestmoreland B Belle VernonWestmoreland T New StantonWestmoreland A Kiski ValleyWyoming P TunkhannockYork J York
Bureaus and offices The PSP also has many bureaus and subdivisions within the organization. This is by no means a complete list, merely a sampling of the breakdown. Bureau of Criminal Investigation Bureau of Emergency and Special Operations Bureau of Forensic Services Bureau of Human Resources Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement Bureau of Records and Identification Bureau of Patrol Bureau of Integrity and Professional Standards Bureau of Communications and Information Services Bureau of Staff Services Bureau of Research & Development Bureau of Training & Education Bureau of Gaming Enforcement Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network – C.L.E.A.N. Equal Employment Opportunity Office Public Information Office Recruitment and Special Services Office Member Assistance Office Department Discipline Office Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission (MPOETC) Domestic Security Office Bureau of Pregnancies & Domestic Affairs
Units
Academy Instructors Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Specialists Auto Theft Units Aviation Ballistics Section Ceremonial Unit Clandestine Lab Units Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Community Service Officer Computer Crimes Criminal Interdiction (S.H.I.E.L.D) Criminal Investigation Units Drug Recognition Experts Explosives/Bomb Section Fire Marshals Firearms Instructors Forensic Services Unit Fugitive Units Gaming Enforcement Intelligence Units Interdiction Units K-9 Units Marine Unit Megan's Law Unit Motorcycle Units Mounted Units Negotiators Organized Crime PA Crime Stoppers PA Criminal Intelligence Center PA Instant Check System Polygraph Unit Public Information Officers Recruiting Unit Special Emergency Response Teams (SERT), which is the PA State Police's version of S.W.A.T State Police Crime Laboratories Uniform Patrol Units Unsolved Crimes Vehicle Fraud Investigation Vice/Narcotics
Uniform and rank structure
The uniform worn by PSP troopers is unique within Pennsylvania. In January 1988, the State Police changed the color of its uniforms. PSP troopers wore dark grey uniforms that confused them with some municipal police departments and Pennsylvania State Constables. By state law, no municipal (city, borough, or township) police department can wear the same exact uniform or color configuration as that of the PSP.
Uniform – troopers to sergeants
The current PSP uniform for troopers, corporals, and sergeants consists of a light gray uniform shirt with black shoulder epaulets. The PSP shoulder patch is worn on both sleeves of all uniform items. The PSP members are issued long sleeve shirts for the winter and short sleeve shirts for summer. However, PSP requires the black necktie to be worn year round. The uniform shirt consist of the trooper's nameplate over the right pocket and any awards the trooper has earned over the left pocket. The PSP is one of only five state police forces that do not wear a badge on their uniform shirts. The original PSP uniform was modeled after the Constabulary forces in Europe and they did not have badges. It is history and tradition for troopers today to carry their badges in a wallet along with their photo ID card. The uniform trousers are a darker gray color with a one-inch-wide black stripe on the leg. PSP shoes and/or boots are also black in color.
The PSP duty belt is plain black leather. The duty holster is the level-2 model. The ammo pouch and handcuff case have hidden snap closure. The OC pepper spray and ASP baton holders are open top. The duty belt is held together with the trousers belt using four silver snap belt keepers. In 2025, PSP started using external vests on their long sleeves uniforms. These do not carry any equipment and mimic the front and back of the shirt. The chest portion of the shirt is modified to be breathable. These are in trial in Troop T.
The PSP trademark item is the campaign-style hat with the chin strap worn in the front under the chin on the winter campaign hat (as opposed to most agencies that wear the strap of the campaign hat behind the head). The hat contains a blackened commonwealth coat of arms. It is required to be worn whenever the trooper is outdoors. It is made of dark gray felt (for wintertime wear) or light gray straw (for summertime wear). The strap of the summer hat is worn behind the head.
The Class "A" Ceremonial uniform troopers wear is a "full dress" uniform with a charcoal gray military-style blouse coat with black buttons. It is worn with the standard issue trouser pants and a black dress shoes. The rank insignia is worn on the shoulder epaulets of the blouse coat. Medals, insignias and ribbons are to be worn on the blouse coat. This uniform is modeled after the original PSP history uniform.
Service insignia's are permitted to be worn on the left sleeve of the Class "A" Ceremonial uniform to correspond with the troopers years of service. A gold bar symbolizes 5 years of service and a gold star symbolizes 10 years of service. The symbols can be combined on the sleeve to signify additional years of service.
Uniform – Commissioned Officers (lieutenants to colonel)
The uniforms for PSP Lieutenants, Captains, Majors, Lieutenant Colonels, and the Colonel are identical to that of the lower ranks, except for the following: A gold-colored commonwealth coat of arms on the left collar and the officer's rank on the right collar. Black stripes on trousers has a gold stripe within it of increasing width with higher rank. The campaign hat is replaced with a military officer's style service cap with a gold-colored commonwealth seal. Captains and above have the distinctive "scrambled eggs" on the visor. Alternatively, officers may wear the campaign hat with a gold coat of arms with the duty uniform.
In addition to the minor detail changes, officers also wear the Class "A" Ceremonial uniform. Officers Class "A" Ceremonial uniform includes a "full dress" uniform with a charcoal gray military-style blouse coat with gold buttons and gold stitching on the sleeves. It is worn with the standard issue trouser pants which include a gold stripe and black dress shoes. The rank insignia is worn on the shoulder epaulets of the blouse coat. Medals, insignias and ribbons are to be worn on the blouse coat.