Regularly, they do drive marked vehicles and act as normal law enforcement, but administrators and investigators may drive unmarked vehicles.
Highway patrol officers are members of a highway patrol unit. The highway patrol is a state agency or a separate unit within a police department designated to patrol and police the highway systems.
The California Highway Patrol Academy pays a salary of $4,274 for cadets and $5,647 for officers.
I would assume that the Highway Patrol is just that...a highway patrol. State police actually respond to calls within unincorporated areas. ==New Answer Headline== The previous answer is in fact correct, however I would like to expand on it a little, in relation to the duties of a highway patrol, and of a state police. First, a highway patrol is often a part of a larger agency called the Department of Public Saftey, or DPS. Within this agency, their are investigative and administrative units that assist the local police and county sheriff's office. In addition, while the PRIMARY duty of a highway patrol is to patrol the highways, they often have collateral duties. For example, the California Highway Patrol investigates accidents for some sheriff's, has officers assigned to the Anti-Terrorism group, have officers that patrol high-violence areas to provide assistance to local officers, and with the merger of the California Highway Patrol and California State Police, now provide security for state government buildings and officials. As another example, the Florida Highway Patrol has a SWAT team to assist local departments, and investigate vehicle title fraud.
Mississippi Highway Patrol was created in 1938.
According to Wikipedia as of 2009 there are over 7,500 officers employed by the California Highway Patrol.
California Highway Patrol was created in 1929.
Florida Highway Patrol was created in 1939.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol was created in 1937.
Montana Highway Patrol was created in 1935.
Nevada Highway Patrol was created in 1908.
Kansas Highway Patrol was created in 1937.
Utah Highway Patrol was created in 1923.