Largely neglected by historians, political scientists, and criminal justice specialists, the available literature on the state police tends to be highly partisan and largely out of date. Based on legislative analysis and historical case study, this is an original contribution to our understanding of the development of the institution of the state police in the United States. Arguing that the creation of state police agencies was the result of a political process that reflected the interplay of a number of different forces, this is a rebuttal of rival interpretations of police development. The work should be of interest to criminal justice educators and political scientists on a college and university level, and to police historians.