Georgia State Patrol Marks 70 Years of Service

(ATLANTA) - The Georgia Department of Public Safety turned 70 years old Monday, March 19, 2007 with special ceremonies in both the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate. 

Legislation creating the Department and the Georgia State Patrol was signed on March 19, 1937, and became effective immediately upon the signature of then-Governor E.D. Rivers. There was an immediate need in the 1930s for a highway patrol to enforce traffic laws and investigate traffic crashes, a state criminal investigative agency, and a means to test and license drivers on the states roads.

Colonel Bill Hitchens, the 21st Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, said those needs were addressed with the creation of the Department in 1937.  Colonel Hitchens noted that the Department of Public Safety has been the foundation from which several separate state agencies have been created through the years. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Driver Services today perform duties that were instituted with the creation of the Department, he said. Other agencies include the GBI Crime Lab, the Peace Officers Standards and Training Council (POST), the Governors Office of Highway Safety, Georgia Police Academy, and the Georgia Crime Information Center.

The first troopers graduated training in August of 1937 and were on patrol in early September, Colonel Hitchens said. The first Georgia State Patrol posts were located in Griffin, Cartersville, Gainesville, Madison, Americus, Moultrie, Perry, Washington, Swainsboro, and Waycross.