Departmental Overview Flashcards
Departmental Overview
The CHP was formed in 1929 to provide service to the motoring public through fair and unified enforcement of traffic safety laws. The CHP is a department of the California State Transportation Agency and is commanded Commissioner Amanda Ray. The Commissioner is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. The mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and Security to the people of California. This is accomplished through patrolling roadways, protecting state infrastructure, and preventing injuries and deaths. One way this is measured is through the Mileage Death Rate (MDR), which is the number of people killed per 100 million miles driven. The most recent study conducted in 2018 shows the MDR is 1.01. While these numbers seem low, our goal still remains in getting the MDR to zero. The CHP also provides security and protection for the Governor, state constitutional officers, State Supreme Court Justices, Appellate Courts, and various dignitaries.
The CHP is a statewide law enforcement agency that employs nearly 11,000 personnel. Those employees are dispersed within CHP Headquarters in Sacramento and nine field Divisions that include eight Divisions statewide and the Protective Services Division. The CHP’s field Divisions include more than 103 Area offices, 36 resident posts, and 17 Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facilities. There are also four headquarters support Divisions, including the Information Management Division, Enforcement and Planning Division, Personnel and Training Division, and Administrative Services Division. There are also special offices such as Community Outreach and Media Relations, Legal Affairs, Internal Affairs, Risk Management, Employee Relations, Equal Employment Opportunity, Office of the Inspector General, Special Representative, and Employee Safety and Assistance.
Through these offices, we are responsible for patrolling approximately 107,000 miles of roadway and each year, more than 2,000 CHP patrol vehicles, 400 motorcycles, and a fleet of airplanes and helicopters log millions of miles in an effort to provide service and keep the people of California safe. Through these “Everyday” efforts, the CHP logged more than 3 million public contacts with motorists, more than 1.6 million arrests for Vehicle Code violations, nearly 7,300 felony arrests, and investigated more than 254,500 traffic collisions, including fatal, injury, and property damage only crashes in the year 2017. Additionally, CHP aircraft were responsible for providing more than 4,800 assists to motorists and saving 12 lives through helicopter medical evacuations in 2018. We also provide mutual aid to allied agencies, other states, and the federal government when requested.
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, homeland security duties greatly increased for the CHP. In addition to increasing measures to protect state property and employees, the CHP gathers and disseminates intelligence information with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. We are also the statewide coordinator for the state’s AMBER Alert program, which since its inception in 2002, has resulted in 311 AMBER Alerts, with 363 children safely located.
Additionally, our partnerships with other agencies and departments led to the CHP taking a major role in port security, cargo theft interdiction, and local crime suppression. The CHP deploys a Special Action Vessel to use in protecting the state’s infrastructure and to deploy personnel.
The CHP readily provides emergency response during natural disasters such as fires and floods, along with helping allied agencies during demonstrations and other situations. Our dispatchers answered approximately eight million calls for service in 2018 and six million of these calls were to our mobile 911 public safety operators.
In order to provide the highest level of safety, service, and security, we maintain transparency through the use of over 2000 MVARS units, we are currently testing 200 body worn cameras through a pilot program in the Oakland and Stockton Area offices, and we have Explorer and Senior Volunteer programs which elicited nearly 200,000 hours of service in 2018, worth more than $5.5 million.
Finally, our community outreach programs such as Impact Teen Driver, Start Smart, Adult Distracted Driving, Sober Graduation, Every 15 Minutes, Child Passenger Safety Seat Installations, and Age Well, Drive Smart are prime examples of maintaining our commitment to provide service to the people of California. All are at the heart of what we do maintain public trust and align with our Departments strategic plan.
