TALLAHASSEE — The start of 2014 marks the beginning of an important milestone for the Florida Highway Patrol. Seventy-five years ago, the Florida Legislature created the Patrol as part of the Department of Public Safety. Today, FHP is known as one of the finest law enforcement agencies in the country and continues to meet the high standards of service that the residents and visitors of Florida have come to expect of those that wear a Florida State Trooper uniform.
The Patrol was established in 1939 under the direction of Director W. F. Reid of the Department of Public Safety, who appointed the first commander of the Florida Highway Patrol, H. Neil Kirkman. The first FHP recruit class had 32 graduates and by the end of the first full year of operation (1940), the state had 59 Florida Highway Patrol troopers.
In that first year, troopers patrolled 1.9 million miles of roadway and investigated 1,000 crashes in a state with less than 2 million residents. By comparison, last year troopers patrolled more than 31 million miles and investigated over 200,000 crashes in a state with over 19 million residents and more than 90 million visitors each year.
“The number of people who call Florida home has increased but the Patrol’s motto of courtesy, service and protection remains the same as it was under Colonel Kirkman 75 years ago,” said Colonel David Brierton, director of the Florida Highway Patrol. “And it is this same motto that new troopers will continue to carry out in the years to come.”
The Patrol has events planned throughout Florida in 2014 to commemorate the diamond anniversary. For more information about the history of the Florida Highway Patrol, visit http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/History.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles provides highway safety and security through excellence in service, education and enforcement. The Department is leading the way to a safer Florida through the efficient and professional execution of its core mission: the issuance of driver licenses, vehicle tags and titles and operation of the Florida Highway Patrol. To learn more about DHSMV and the services offered, visit www.flhsmv.gov, follow them on Instagram at FLHSMV, Twitter @FLHSMV or find them on Facebook.