Mississippi Highway Patrol

About Mississippi Highway Patrol

The Mississippi Highway Patrol is the highway patrol agency for Mississippi, which has jurisdiction on most of the state and federal highways in the State of Mississippi. It was created to protect the lives, property and constitutional rights of people in Mississippi.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol was created in 1938. Troopers first patrolled the highways on motorcycles. If a Trooper stopped a motorists who was driving drunk, he would arrest the violator, then drive the violators vehicle to the Sheriffs office where the violator would be charged with driving under the influence. The Trooper would then hitch a ride back to his motorcycle. The original uniform worn by the first Mississippi troopers was a gray shirt with navy blue epaulettes trimmed with gold. The shirt had an MHP patch on each arm which was very similar to the patch worn today, except it was blue and gold instead of blue and red. The pants were blue with a darker navy blue stripe down the leg bordered by gold piping. The uniform was changed in the 1960s. Red piping replaced gold for the shirt lapels as well as the pants leg for all Troopers holding the rank of Captain and below. 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. As years passed, the patrol phased out the motorcycle for the automobile. The 60's were a turbulent time of change for all of America and Mississippi was no different. Although common consensus believes this was mainly a negative time in Mississippi history, the Mississippi Highway Patrol was the center of many positive aspects during this period. 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. Well 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 2003 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.