Bi-State Police

Police with legal authority in multiple states.

Bi-state police agencies operate in two or more states. They have full law enforcement powers and responsibilities in each state they operate in. This includes the powers to arrest, enforce laws, conduct investigations, run traffic, write traffic citations, respond to emergencies, form mutual aid agreements, assist other agencies, testify in court, and more.

This is a rare form of police, with each bi-state agency operating differently and having varying jurisdiction and authority based upon state laws. Most bi-state agencies retain full police authority throughout each state they operate in, but some powers may be limited outside of their primary jurisdiction. The purpose of these agencies are to ease conflicts of interest in high traffic areas where states met and utilize the same resources.

Port authority police officers

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was the first bi-state agency to be formed. It was formed through an interstate compact authorized by US Congress after difficulties and disputes between New Jersey and New York.[1] This formed a path for agencies to be created in other states. Though an interstate compact is needed to form this type of agency, smaller towns have found a loophole to form their bi-state police agency without an interstate compact and US Congress consent. These loopholes include mutual aid agreements, state and local laws, and a flaw in the interstate compact clause which allows compacts to be created before consent if it is likely that Congress will give consent. The first town(s) to do this was Delmar, Delaware and Delmar, Maryland in 1954. They cite their authority as coming from both state and local laws with no mention of Congress, or an interstate compact.[2]

## Transportation Agencies

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### Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department

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The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, or PAPD, was the first bi-state police agency to be formed in the United States on June 1, 1928.[3][4] PAPD has an interstate compact and congressional consent.

Officers
Officers are assigned to a post that focuses on one state. This allows for officers to focus on one set of laws rather than both while contributing to the goals of the Port Authority. Officers are labeled "police officers" in both New York and New Jersey. Giving them full police powers in both states. [5] [6] Officers are trained for both states during the academy.

### Delaware River Port Authority Police Department

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DRPA Police seal

The Delaware River Port Authority Police Department, or DRPAPD, has jurisdiction in Pennsylvania and New Jersey safeguarding DRPA/PATCO ports, bridges, and properties, as well as parts of the Delaware River.[7] Their authority is statewide, but crimes unrelated to the Port Authority are turned over to the agencies with primary jurisdiction. DRPAPD has an interstate compact, presidential consent, and congressional consent. [8]

DRPA old school car

Officers
Officers are assigned to a post that focuses on one state. This allows for officers to focus on one set of laws rather than both while contributing to the goals of the Port Authority. Regardless, officers are trained at the academy for both states and can work in either state. Officers retain full powers throughout each state. [9]

### Delaware River and Bay Authority Police Department

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DRBA Police Bike

Delaware River and Bay Authority Police Department, or DRBAPD, has jurisdiction in states of Delaware and New Jersey. They safeguard DRBA properties, airports in both New Jersey and Delaware, the Delaware Memorial Bridge, and The Delaware River itself. DRBA has an interstate compact and congressional consent.[10]

Officers
Officers are assigned to a post that focuses on one state. This allows for officers to focus on one set of laws rather than both while contributing to the goals of the Authority. Regardless, officers are trained at the academy for both states and can work in either state. Officers carry full police powers in Delaware and New Jersey. [11]

### Metropolitan Transit Police

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Metro Transit Police Department has jurisdiction in D.C, Maryland, and Virginia. They are WMATA's transit police agency. MTPD was established in 1976 with congressional consent. [12]

These officers have full police authority in each jurisdiction they patrol, regardless of the crimes relevance to the transit authority. [13]

MTPD police badge | MTPD officers | MTPD Vehicle

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### Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department

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MTA police traffic stop

## City Agencies

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### Delmar Police Department

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Delmar Police Department is the official police agency for the towns of Delmar, Delaware and Delmar, Maryland.

Delmar Police department was form in 1954 with the consolidation of Delmar, Delaware and Delmar, Maryland Police Departments. Interestingly, Arthur Lenwood Godfrey was the first Chief of Police For both Delaware and Maryland towns. He passed 16 years before the consolidation in 1938. Godfrey was likely a contributing reason for the consolidation of both departments.

It is unlikely that Delmar PD was formed by an interstate compact. Their documents cite their authority as coming from state and local laws with no mention of Congress or congressional approval. The Chief and all officers must be sworn and certified by both Delaware and Maryland. This is done by attending an academy in Delaware and Maryland.

Officers
Officers are considered Peace Officers and carry full law enforcement powers in both Delaware and Maryland. This includes off-duty arrest powers in both states. Their power of arrest is statewide, but limited to felonies, violence, and threats of violence when outside of Delmar, unless they are on property owned by Delmar that is outside of its city limits or pursuing offenders of violations committed within the city limits.[14]
Delmar Police Seal

### Texhoma Police Department

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Texhoma Police Department is the official police agency for the towns of Texhoma, Oklahoma and Texhoma, Texas.

Texhoma PD is relatively small, as both towns have a population of less than 1000 residents combined. It is unlikely that Texhoma PD was formed by an interstate compact, and was likely formed by state and local laws. Texhoma does not have its official seal posted anywhere but you can see faint visuals of it on officer uniforms and cars in pictures posted on its official police page on Facebook.[15]

### Ardmore Police Department

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Ardmore Police department is the official police agency of Ardmore, Alabama and Ardmore, Tennessee.

No formal information about the police department is public, besides their motto - serving two states and four counties.- [16] It is unlikely that Ardmore PD was formed by an interstate compact, and was likely formed by state and local laws. Officers likely have full jurisdiction in both states within the city and town of Ardmore as all officers wear the same patch, but this has yet to be confirmed. Applications cannot be done online and must be done at the police station in Alabama.

Police seal for Ardmore Police Department

### Union City Police Department

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Union City Police Department is the official police agency of Union City, Indiana and Union City, Ohio.

The consolidation of Union City, Indiana and Union City, Ohio Police Departments is fairly new. Neither department has kept an updated website with relevant legal information about their department or authority, but both operate official Facebook pages and share public information almost daily. Each post is copied to the other page. It is suspected that the consolidation of these two departments happened in November 2023. This is when both official department pages changed their profile pictures from independent agency seals including the state signature to a singular Union City seal with the state boundaries of Ohio and Indian combined and a star in the center to represent Union City.[17][18]

Union City Indiana Police Old seal | Union City OH/IN consolidated seal | Union City Ohio Police Old seal

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### Colorado City/Hildale City Police Department

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Colorado City/Hildale City Police Department is the official police agency for Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale City, Utah.

The police department was formed in 2013 by a type of mutual aid agreement called an intergovernmental cooperative agreement, or IGA. The agreement automatically renews annually, but either city is allowed to back out of the agreement at anytime with a six month notice. The authority for this agency comes from A.R.S 9-240 and 11-952 of Arizona, and 11-13201 and 11-13-202 of the Utah Code. [19]

Officers
Officers are employed by Colorado City and commissioned in Arizona as police officers. When operating in Utah, officers are granted the same authority that Hildale City officers would have if they had their own department. This means that officers must comply with Utah law, and only enforce Utah and Hildale law.

## Defunct Agencies

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### Waterfront Commission Police Department

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The Waterfront Commission had primary jurisdiction at NJ and NY ports in the New York Harbor Area. [20]

In 2018, the New Jersey government asked to exit the Waterfront Commission Compact, and in 2023 was granted this ability by the US Supreme Court. With this, WCPD lost jurisdiction in New Jersey and was disbanded.

## Railroad Police

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Besides Amtrak, railroad police departments are state agencies with full law enforcement power and responsibilities in multiple states. They share all the attributes of bi-state police, but there are some differences. Their power is granted by state and federal law, but they do not need an interstate compact to be formed. Depending on the state, railroad police officers may have as much power as any other officer in the state whether it relates to the railroad or not. Federal law authorizes them to enforce the laws of any state where their company owns property regardless of state law.[21]

Some transit authority agencies such as SEPTA Transit Police may operate under this authority to ensure jurisdiction over the company's entire system.[22]

CSX Railroad Police Car

## Honorable Mentions

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### Federal LEO's

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Federal law enforcement officers have the ability to enforce federal law anywhere in any state or territory under the jurisdiction of The United States government. They also have the ability to enforce state law, including traffic laws, in any state thanks to the Assimilative Crimes Act.[23] This is only allowed on or in the immediate area surrounding federal property including public roads, walkways, and even interstates that may pass through such as I-14 at Fort Cavazos.

In 2022, the Federeal Protective Service had 2105 total arrests, detentions, and citations which included state and municipal penal code violations. [24]

All crimes will be prosecuted in federal court when charged under the Assimilative Crimes Act.[25]

All federal LEO's have full or limited local authority in Washington DC. For example, United States Park Police has concurrent local jurisdiction with Metropolitan Police Department, often responding simultaneously. USPP also holds primary jurisdiction of G.W Parkway in Virginia and sections of B.W Parkway in Maryland. Multiple federal agencies are given state law enforcement powers in Virginia thanks to Â§ 19.2-12 in the Code of Virginia.[26]

Us park police car

Another common way that federal LEO's enforce state law is by becoming cross-deputized by states. This is common for preservation agencies such as the United States Forest Service, National Park Service, and United States Fish and Wildlife Service, but also includes agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, United States Postal Service, Federal Protective Service and more.[27] Officers are likely to be cross-deputized in multiple states when their post straddles multiple state boundaries, such as US Park Police on Ellis Island, US Park Police and Rangers stationed at locations such as the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, US Forest Service officers in national forests that are located in more than one state, and United States Bureau of Land Management officers.

USFS officer and patrol car

These powers and responsibilities include responding to local emergencies, writing traffic tickets, arresting offenders, enforcing local law, investigating local crimes, and more. These powers vary by state. [28]

Officers that have been cross-deputized have discretion to choose where charges are filed. Crimes that violate both state and federal laws can be taken to either local or federal prosecutors. [29]

### Mutual Aid Agreements

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Mutual aid agreements offer agencies the ability to enforce the laws of another state. This is usually done under certain circumstances, but some smaller agencies may utilize them daily. It's more common in small twin/border cities of separate states which allows two cities to operate different departments but work together to achieve the same goal, including the ability to cross state lines to assist. [30] Texarkana, Texas & Texarkana, Arkansas are good examples of this as they share a police department building, jail, and courthouse, but operate different police offices.[31][32]

Texarkana

## References

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1. ^ "The page you're looking for can't be found - the Port Authority of NY & NJ". Archived from the original on 29 September 2006.
2. ^ https://www.delmarpolice.com/pdfs/1.2__Jurisdiction,_Organization_and_Authority.pdf
3. ^ https://www.panynj.gov/police/en/about/history.html Retrieved December 29, 2024
4. ^ https://www.panynj.gov/police/en/about.html Retrieved December 29, 2024
5. ^ https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CPL/2.10
6. ^ https://codes.findlaw.com/nj/title-32-interstate-and-port-authorities-and-commissions/nj-st-sect-32-2-25/
7. ^ https://www.drpa.org/police/ Retrieved December 29, 2024
8. ^ https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers/209/statement-president-upon-signing-bills-relating-delaware-river-port
9. ^ https://casetext.com/statute/new-jersey-statutes/title-32-interstate-and-port-authorities-and-commissions/chapter-324-delaware-river-port-authority-police-officers/section-324-6-delaware-river-port-authority-police-officers
10. ^ https://www.drba.net/drba-police-history Retrieved December 29, 2024
11. ^ https://codes.findlaw.com/nj/title-32-interstate-and-port-authorities-and-commissions/nj-st-sect-32-11e-1-6/
12. ^ https://www.wmata.com/about/transit-police/about.cfm
13. ^ https://www.wmata.com/about/transit-police/crime-stats.cfm
14. ^ https://www.delmarpolice.com/pdfs/1.2__Jurisdiction,_Organization_and_Authority.pdf
15. ^ Departments police cars, uniform patches, & badges include Oklahoma & Texas flags combined https://www.facebook.com/share/tHzd1zm2YatY6m4X/?mibextid=ox5AEW Retrieved September 23, 2024.
16. ^ https://www.facebook.com/ArdmoreALTNPD
17. ^ Union City, Indiana https://www.facebook.com/share/1F6ZdUqUuv/?mibextid=wwXIfr Retrieved December 30, 2024
18. ^ Union City, Ohio https://www.facebook.com/share/188PPcEqWe/?mibextid=wwXIfr Retrieved December 30, 2024
19. ^ https://www.hildalecity.com/sites/default/files/fileattachments/police/page/2506/2015-08-28-police-iga.pdf
20. ^ http://www.wcnyh.gov/police.htm
21. ^ https://www.csx.com/index.cfm/about-us/company-overview/csx-police-department/history-of-csx-rr-police/
22. ^ "Transit Police – Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority".
23. ^ "Justice Manual | 667\. Assimilative Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 13 | United States Department of Justice". 19 February 2015.
24. ^ "Operations | Homeland Security".
25. ^ "Traffic tickets on base carry hefty penalties". 18 May 2011.
26. ^ "§ 19.2-12. Who are conservators of the peace".
27. ^ "Utah Code Section 53-13-106".
28. ^ https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bba641cd39c38913f702a0/t/6196a31ae6115b7f5f777e2e/1637262108125/CROSS+DEPUTIZATION+3.pdf
29. ^ https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/report/deputizing-federal-law-enforcement-personnel-under-state-law
30. ^ "Adventure".
31. ^ "Bi-State Criminal Justice Center Compact – National Center for Interstate Compacts | the Council of State Governments". 12 July 2024.
32. ^ "Bi-State Criminal Justice Center Compact".