The Illinois State Police (ISP) is the state police force of Illinois. Officially established in 1922, the Illinois State Police have over 3,000 personnel and 21 districts. The main facilities of the Illinois State Police Academy, which were constructed in 1968, are located in Springfield. Prior to 1968, training was conducted at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. ISP also maintains the Illinois sex offender registry, administers the state's AMBER Alert program, and issues Illinois Firearm Owner Identification Cards (FOID). The Illinois State Police is also responsible for driving and physically protecting the Governor of Illinois. In 2005, officers and duties of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services Police were merged into the Illinois State Police.
Traffic enforcement
Illinois State Police currently use various methods for speed limit enforcement on Illinois highways. Hand-held and moving RADAR, LIDAR, pacing, air speed utilizing the ISP fleet of aircraft, and time-distance measurement. The IL State Police uses typical marked units (Crown Victorias, Impalas, and Chargers, Ford Police Interceptor) as well as unmarked units of vehicles ranging from Crown Victorias to Grand Prix GTPs to LS-1 powered Z28s to Mustang GTs. The Mustangs, Camaros, and other vehicles are for a program created to combat aggressive driving and speeding. Lightbars used on marked units are Code 3 X2100 LED units, Federal Signal Legend units and Code 3 MX7000 halogen/strobe units. Prior to that, it was a mixture of the Code 3 MX7000s and Federal Signal JetSonics and Federal Signal Vistas. ISP had experimented with Whelen Edge Strobe bars but decided to go with the Code 3s instead.
Since 1986, the Illinois State Police has patrolled Chicago Expressways (Districts 3 and 4 which merged to become District Chicago). Illinois also announced in February 2006, that photo radar mounted in vans would be used for speed enforcement in construction zones statewide. Recently, the program has been expanded for speed enforcement throughout the state. Though the vans are manned by State Police troopers, a private company, ACS State and Local Solutions, provides the vans for a fee and receives a bonus of $15 per ticket issued.
A Motorcycle Enforcement Bureau (MEB) was created in 2006 consisting of 41 officers in six squads dispersed throughout the state. 50 Harley-Davidson FLHTPI Electra Glide's were leased for this use by the MEB. Due to cost-cutting measures in mid 2010, the Motorcycle Enforcement Bureau was disbanded, however some motorcycle officers remain in the larger Districts such as Chicago and East St. Louis.
As of late 2007, all ISP districts have moved their radio operations to the new STARCOM 21 (700/800Mhz Motorola Project 25) trunked radio system.
Aircraft
The Illinois State Police have six aircraft used for law enforcement throughout the state, one Cessna 421C and five Cessna 182. These aircraft are stationed at four airports, Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, DuPage Airport, MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and Whiteside County Airport. ISP has used aircraft for speed enforcement, using stop watch time measurement, since 1959.
Uniform
The uniform of the Illinois State Police has certain qualities that separate it from its neighbors. Instead of a chocolate brown uniform (similar to the Iowa State Patrol), or a light blue on dark blue (similar to the Missouri State Highway Patrol), they wear light tan/khaki shirts, and dark green pants with black trim. Dress uniforms include a jacket that matches the pants. The cold weather gear consists of a chocolate brown bomber jacket. The hat that is worn by the state police is a dark brown campaign hat. The badge, instead of the traditional shield surmounted by an eagle design, is a six-pointed star that reads the rank of the trooper, and the words "Illinois State Police" in black, along with (beginning in 2002) the officer's badge number. (The badge's sequential inventory number is found stamped on the reverse side of the badge.) The badges are silver, or chrome plated steel for all ranks below Sergeant, and for Sergeant and above, the star is gold plated. Over recent time there have been uniform variations such as brown wooly-pully style sweaters for cold weather, brown leather almost bomber style jackets, variations for truck enforcement officers, etc.
Duty Weapons
The Illinois State Police was the first major law enforcement agency to carry a semi automatic pistol starting in 1968 with the S&W Model 39. ISP carried the Model 39 till 1981 transitioning to the 2nd generation S&W Model 439. ISP carried the S&W Model 439 till 1988 when they transitioned to the S&W Model 459 for uniform use and the S&W Model 469 for investigations and senior command officers. In 1993 ISP went to the 3rd generation S&W Model 5904 for uniform use and the S&W Model 6904 for investigations and senior command officers. In 1999 ISP transitioned to 40 caliber with the Glock 22 for uniform use and the Glock 23 for investigations and senior command officers. Over the years various shotguns have been issued as well.