Wisconsin State Patrol - Mission

Mission

As stated on its website, the State Patrol provides traffic safety and enforcement services for Wisconsin. Like all highway patrol and state patrol agencies, its primary mission is to enforce the provisions of the Wisconsin Motor Vehicle laws and other laws to prevent crime. However, the State Patrol is seen as a state police force and as such, its state troopers have full police authority and statewide jurisdiction although investigating non-traffic crimes is not a priority for the agency, especially if those crimes occur within an incorporated area that has its own police department.

These are the services provided statewide by the agency:

• Traffic law enforcement through freeway patrols
• Accident scene reconstruction and crime scene mapping for investigations
• Motor carrier safety inspections
• Commercial vehicle size and weight enforcement
• Inspections of school buses, ambulances, motor coaches, and salvage vehicles
• Evaluation and maintenance of breath-alcohol testing equipment; also provides training to some county and local law enforcement agencies in using such equipment
• Assistance to county and local law enforcement agencies when requested upon
• Law enforcement training at the Wisconsin State Patrol Academy
• Traffic safety programs

The State Patrol maintains and manages the facilities of the Mobile Data Communications Network (MDCN), a system that supports remote access to information available from the United States Department of Justice. The service is provided free of charge to allied criminal justice agencies in Wisconsin.