who has the authority to establish a state police agency
State police (United States) A general trend has been to bring all of these agencies under a state-level Department of Public Safety. Additionally, they may serve under different state departments, such as the Highway Patrol under the state Department of Transportation and the Marine patrol under the Department of Natural Resources. Twenty-three U.S. states use the term "State Police." Forty-nine states have a State Police agency or its equivalent, with Hawaii being the only state without a so-designated statewide police agency.