Oklahoma Department of Public Safety
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Oklahoma Department of Public Safety | |
 Great Seal of Oklahoma |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | April 20, 1937 |
| Headquarters | 3600 N Martin Luther King Avenue Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Employees | 1,404 classified 39 unclassified |
| Annual Budget | $78 million |
| Minister Responsible | Kevin Ward, Secretary of Safety and Security |
| Agency Executives | Kevin Ward, Commissioner Billy McClure, Assistant Commissioner |
| Child Agency | Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) |
| Website | |
| www.dps.state.ok.us | |
The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety (DPS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma. Under the supervision of the Governor of Oklahoma, DPS is responsible for the safety of Oklahomans and the administration of justice in the state through law enforcement and other duties as the Governor of Oklahoma may proscribe.
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[edit] Mission
The Public Safety Department is designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the Oklahoma according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Oklahomans. The Department provides safety and security for Oklahoma’s citizens through law enforcement and protection with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
[edit] Organization
The Governor of Oklahoma is the chief officer of the Department and the Commissioner of Public Safety its executive head. The Commissioner is responsible to the Governor for the operation and administration of the Department. The Commissioner is also charged with providing security details, transportation, and communications capabilities for the Governor, the Governor's immediate family, and the Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma.
The Commissioner of Public Safety is appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Oklahoma Senate to serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The Commissioner must be a professional law enforcement officer with at least ten years' experience in the field of law enforcement or with five years' experience in the field of law enforcement and a graduate of a four-year college with a degree in law enforcement administration, law, criminology or a related science.
The Commissioner appoints an Assistant Commissioner of Public Safety to serve as the Commissioner's principal deputy. The Commissioner also appoints the Chief of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
[edit] Leadership
The Department is administered by the Secretary of Safety and Security, and the Commissioner of Public Safety. Under Governor Brad Henry, Kevin Ward is serving concurrently as both Secretary and Commissioner. Commissioner Ward formerly served as the Assistant Commissioner of Public Safety under Bob Ricks tenure as Commissioner, and was a Captain with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
[edit] Responsibilities
The Commissioner of Public Safety and each officer of the Department of Public Safety are peace officers of the state. Officers have the powers and authority vested in all other state peace officers, including the power of search and seizure (except the serving of civil process), the power to investigate and prevent crime, and the general power to enforce the criminal laws of state. Generally, the officers of the Department are responsible for enforcing all laws regulating the operation of motors vehicles or the use of the highways. However, they may enforce any other law when so directed by the Governor of Oklahoma.
In enforcing any law, the Department officers may arrest (without writ, rule, order or process) any person detected by them violating any law they are responsible for enforcing.
[edit] History
The Department of Public Safety traces its history almost as far back as statehood.
In 1912, there were only sixty-five hundred automobiles in the entire state. But by 1929, over 600,000 vehicles were being driven up and down state roads. Oklahoma had become a state on wheels, although the roads those wheels were rolling over were designed for horse and buggy travel. One clear indication of the arrival of the automobile age in Oklahoma was the shocking number of people killed in vehicular accidents - about five hundred a year by the mid-1920s.
The automobile also brought many of the nation's most infamous criminals into Oklahoma's borders. By the 1930s, Oklahoma became a criminal haven in much the same fashion as it was in its days as Indian Territory. The odds were stacked in the favor of the criminals as once across the county line, they were beyond the reach of local authorities. Criminals soon discovered that the same system of law enforcement that was powerless to halt the rising tide of traffic fatalities was equally inept at stopping them.
Govenor E.W. Marland, the 10th Governor of Oklahoma, made a bid for a state police to the legislation and called it the Department of Public Safety. Marland prevailed over the hesitant legislation on April 20, 1937. In early May of 1937 he had the basic framework on paper and issued a state-wide call for recruits to become Oklahoma's first highway patrolmen. About five hundred men answered the call. In the hard times of the Depression, the one hundred and fifty dollars a month salary was very attractive. By July 15, 1937 the Department of Public Safety was a functioning agency.
[edit] Divisions
- Oklahoma Highway Patrol
- Oklahoma Highway Safety Office
- Oklahoma Driver's Licenses Services
