Mississippi Highway Patrol - Brief History

Brief History

The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, known in Mississippi as simply, the Highway Patrol, was created in 1938, with its troopers first patrolling the highways on motorcycles. Automobiles were the principal evforcement vehicle in the 1940s and since. The original uniform worn by the Mississippi troopers was a gray shirt with navy blue epaulettes trimmed with gold. The shirt had an MHP patch only on the left shoulder, which was unlike the patch worn today. It was oval to almost round in shape with "Highway Safety Patrol" in gold around the upper perimeter. The center had the state seal and "Virtute et Armis", the state motto, in gold within a red scroll was around the lower perimeter. The trousers were light blue with a darker blue stripe down the leg bordered by gold piping. The shoulder patch was changed in 1956 to a different patch and was worn on both shoulders. The new patch was a curved side triangle displayed point down with "Mississippi" across the top, "Highway Patrol" immediately below it and "Virtute et Armis" along the two sides at the point.

The uniform was changed in the 1960s. Red piping replaced gold for the shirt epaulettes as well as bordering the dark blue stripe on the pants leg for all Troopers below the rank of Lieutenant. This led to the nickname “Red Leg” given to Mississippi Troopers, signifying that they are not upper echelon administrative employees, but rather “Road Men," troopers who worked enforcement on the highways.

During the 1966 Meredith Mississippi March for Freedom which registered over 3000 African Americans to vote in Mississippi, the Mississippi Highway Patrol escorted thousands of civil rights activists from Memphis TN to Jackson MS. Leaders of major civil rights organizations, Dr. Martin Luther King of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), Floyd McKissick of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and Stokely Carmichael of SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) attended the protest. Guarded by the Mississippi Highway Patrol, the marchers were not attacked on their main route. The March concluded on June 26 with a rally of 15,000 people in Jackson, while over a thousand officers in the Mississippi Highway Patrol, National Guard, and local law enforcement agencies guarded the capitol building.

In 2000 the Mississippi Highway Patrol appointed L.M. Claiborne to become the first African American Colonel of the Mississippi Highway Patrol. Colonel Claiborne began his career with the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol in December 1980, as a Trooper assigned to Troop H, Louisville, Mississippi. He was promoted to the rank of Trooper First Class in December 1985 and in December 1987 to the rank of Staff Sergeant assigned as the Accident Reconstructionist in Troops H and G. In March 1989, Colonel Claiborne was among the first Highway Patrol Officers to attend training for and become a Crime Scene Investigator with the rank of Sergeant First Class. Claiborne was then promoted to Captain over the training division where he served until his promotion to Colonel.