About History - Washington State Patrol

2021

WSP celebrates its 100th anniversary with several events and activities including a parade of vintage vehicles and reenactments of early traffic contacts. January 6th insurrection in Washington DC coincides with protestors breaching the gate and...

July 26, 2022 0 0 0

2020

Dubbed COVID-19, a novel respiratory disease first reported in China in late 2019 spreads quickly around the world and by spring of 2020 has impacted every phase of WSP operations. Many civilian employees began successfully working from home...

July 26, 2022 0 0 0

2019

Government and Media Relations hired the agency’s first full-time tribal liaison, increasing state criminal justice protective and investigative resources for reporting and identifying missing Indigenous persons in the state. Washington State...

July 26, 2022 0 0 0

2018

State Initiative 940 is passed requiring all law enforcement in the state to receive violence de-escalation, mental-health, and first-aid training, and provide first-aid; and change standards for use of deadly force, adding a “good...

July 26, 2022 0 0 0

2017

The construction of the Helen Sommers building is completed. The Helen Sommers building becomes the new WSP headquarters (HQ). WSP staff start moving out of the General Administration (GA) building and into the new HQ building. On December 18...

July 26, 2022 0 0 0

2016

On February 23rd, a section of SR-16 was renamed Trooper Tony Radulescu Memorial Highway, to honor “Trooper Tony” who was killed on the highway four years earlier. On March 25th, Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill giving WSP Troopers a raise, in...

August 17, 2016 0 0 0

2015

106 commissioned personnel left the agency and by December the agency had 160 commissioned personnel vacancies. The fire season in 2015 proved to be even worse than the 2014 fire season. The Fire Mobilization Plan was authorized a record 30...

August 17, 2015 0 0 0

2014

On Saturday, March 22, 2014 at 10:37 am a major mudslide occurred four miles east of Oso, WA, on SR530, between the towns of Darrington and Arlington. The slide killed 43 people. 89 Troopers, Sergeants, and Lieutenants responded, working on...

August 17, 2014 0 0 0

2013

The Fire Training Academy became its own Division within the Fire Protection Bureau. Lean was implemented in Washington State Agencies, after Governor Jay Inslee signed an executive order urging state agencies to improve services, outcomes and...

August 17, 2013 0 0 0

2012

The 100th Trooper Basic Training Class started on June 18th and graduated on December 14th with 37 cadets. In November, the Regional Auto Theft Units were re-established in Pierce, King, Snohomish and Spokane Counties.

August 17, 2012 0 0 0

2011

WSP joined forces with Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife to create a joint Chaplaincy Program. In April, Chaplain Mike Neil was selected as the WSP Senior Chaplain. In May, Washington State was recognized as having the third best...

August 17, 2011 0 0 0

2010

The Target Zero Team initiative began, with a handful of troopers in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties working full time to look for impaired drivers. In the first 24 months, the data-driven patrols saved 109 lives. The program was so...

August 17, 2010 0 0 0