State troopers, define:

Same as California. A lot of people think that CHP won't write a ticket inside of city limits. Most of our small and medium sized cities are short on officers and they actually encourage CHP to write some tickets whenever they can.

 

As I understand it in South Dakota they have jurisdiction statewide but are given certain areas to patrol varying by shift. I've seen them everywhere from the interstate to state highways to little 2 lane blacktops.

 

Nebraska state troopers been on a hiring binge the last few years, expect to see them anywhere anytime including city streets in omaha.

 

I believe it's a more a matter of what laws they are allowed to enforce more than jurisdictions. Any state law (ie moving violations) they witness being broken they can enforce, but they cannot enforce local ordinances or invesigate crimes that would fall within the scope of local enforcement without invitation.

But jurisdictions get real fuzzy real quick.

 

It definitely varies by state, the name often gives you an idea of structure.
State Police tend to cover everything from traffic to criminal investigation. Think of state-level FBI.
States where they're called Highway Patrol tends to mean just that, they're tasked with traffic and vehicle issues, and the criminal stuff is handled by a different agency.

And as others have said, different states have different ideas on where they should spend the most time, even though in most they have statewide jurisdiction.

 

Couple be different in other states but in Jersey they have jurisdiction on the whole state but they’re assigned certain sections to patrol. They can go past that section should anything interesting happen. Heck even for no reason too but I’m sure the higher ups might not be too fond of them leaving their post too often.

 

Not that I would specifically test the issue, but in the state of Ohio the OSP are only "Traffic Enforcement" and only have arresting powers on "State Property" courthouse, statehouse, fairgrounds etc. Unless in times of riot, civil unrest or when declared by the Governor.

This is not just urban legend, it is stated in the ORC, and more importantly they are neither recognized by the BSSA(sheriff) or OPOTA.

Section 5503.02 - Ohio Revised Code | Ohio Laws

 

We, in the midwest, always called a state cop, a bear. Pretty sure, by definition, they have jurisdiction over the entire state, and ALL crimes. They preside over sporting events, riots, protests, murders, the state patrol does it all. While my admiration for LEOs goes, at the bottom, local police, then county sheriffs, and at the top is state patrol. Just their presence commands respect,,or it should.