Philadelphia Highway Patrol

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Philadelphia Highway Patrol patch

The Philadelphia Highway Patrol is a specialized unit within the Philadelphia Police Department that shares a dual role as both the primary enforcers of traffic laws within the city and as a unique anti-crime task force.

The Highway Patrol uses a combination of traditional police cruisers and motorcycle units to patrol limited-access and municipal roadways within the city-limits of Philadelphia, encouraging rapid traffic flow and enforcing motor vehicle safety standards in line with its highway patrol mandate; however, the unit is also utilized as an elite high-crime task force, and is often sent into areas experiencing crime waves to perform massed patrols and searches. The Highway Patrol serves as a distinct and unique unit within the larger police department, and there are only a few other agencies within the United States that perform a similar municipal service, most notably in New York City and Boston.

In 2005, Mayor John F. Street and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell announced that the Highway Patrol would be removed from interstate highways in Philadelphia, with motor vehicle enforcement being transferred over to the Pennsylvania State Police headquarters on Belmont Avenue. In response, the members of the Fraternal Order of Police have sued the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in both the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court and U.S. District Federal Court in Philadelphia in order to keep the interstate highways under Philadelphia Police jurisdiction. Because of the rampant high crime rates in 2006, Mayor Street announced that the Highway Patrol will be removed from all Interstate Highways in Philadelphia (I-76, I-95, and I-676) over the next three years, with the State Police patrolling them (Pennsylvania state law only allows the PSP to use radar guns), while the Highway Patrol will concentrate on specialized patrols in high-crime area. The only non-Interstate Highway, the four-mile (6.4 km) Roosevelt Expressway between I-76 and N. 9th Street, will still be patrolled by the Highway Patrol.

In addition to its distinctive patch, worn opposite of the regular Philadelphia P.D. patch (district patrol officers wear the regular patch on the left sleeve, with no patch on the right sleeve), the members of the Highway Patrol also wear the so-called "50-Mission" unstiffened cap, instead of the 8-point stiff NYPD-style cap, the full Sam Browne Belt without cross strap, (cross strap added only on the Leather Coat and Blouse coat), and knee-high black "cavalry" boots and breeches instead of regular trousers and shoes. They also wear a double-breasted black leather coat instead of the regular nylon patrol jacket. This uniform style, which dates back to the 1920s when the Highway Patrol officers rode around on motorcycles for all patrols. Because of the mixed use of patrol cars and motorcycles today, the only "non-interchangeable" item is the cap, which is replaced with a safety helmet mandated for all motorcycle officers (although current Pennsylvania state laws allow civilians with proper training to ride helmetless on Pennsylvania roads^{[citation needed]}).