The Historical Context for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has been posted from the Records Disposition Authority (RDA) approved by the State Records Commission on October 16, 2024. The RDA establishes disposition requirements by designating records as either temporary records which may be destroyed after a specified retention period, or permanent records, which must be preserved in perpetuity. The complete RDAs for close to 175 agencies can be found on the Alabama Department of Archives and History website.
Alongside state militia units, local law enforcement entities such as county sheriffs, municipal police, and constabularies satisfied Alabama’s law enforcement needs for the first century of statehood. By the 1920s, new challenges including Prohibition and widespread adoption of the automobile strained the capacity of these traditional policing institutions. Policing the rapidly changing twentieth-century social landscape meant enshrining civil law enforcement powers at the state level of government. The following provides a brief historical narrative of state policing in Alabama, centering on the converging histories of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s (ALEA) two major policing houses – the Department of Public Safety and the State Bureau of Investigations.
In January 1919, Alabama legislators anticipated the federal Volstead Act by passing a state-level Prohibition (Alabama Act 1919-007) on “spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented, or other intoxicating or prohibited liquors and beverages.” To aid its enforcement, this act recognized two new expressions of gubernatorial powers. The first appointed the governor as “the executive head of the law enforcement machinery of the State [who is] authorized to supervise, direct and give orders to any and all officers of the State or of any county in the State,” specifically with respect to enforcing Prohibition-related laws. The second conferred upon the governor the separate power “to appoint and employ inspectors or secret service men, or such other persons as he may deem necessary for the purpose of detecting and reporting upon violations of said [Prohibition] laws, or any [laws].”
During the same session, legislators approved Alabama Act 1919-551, which further codified the governor’s prerogatives to “employ a special force of not more than ten men to serve under his immediate direction and control [which force of men] may perform their functions and pursue their activities anywhere and at all times through the State, irrespective of local political subdivisions of the State, and shall see that the laws of the State are enforced, and may make arrests in all cases and under such conditions as arrests are made by the sheriffs and other officials under the laws of the State.” Together, these acts placed all of Alabama’s existing law officers under the governor’s direction for Prohibition-related enforcement while also granting the governor the prerogative to outfit up to ten men with state-wide policing authority. This ten-man outfit became the State Law Enforcement Department (SLED), one of Alabama’s earliest regular state police forces.[1] While SLED officers primarily enforced federal and state Prohibition laws, they also investigated murders, robberies, arson, forgeries, kidnappings, and various misdemeanors.[2]
SLED’s small ten-man force mostly served in auxiliary roles alongside existing local law enforcement (mostly sheriffs) and federal forces (mostly Prohibition Agents from the Revenue Department) already operating in Alabama. Through these partnerships, the understaffed SLED was able to flex gubernatorial authority into arenas where extant police powers were compromised or insufficient. SLED’s success, despite its modest size, was so notable that its annual budget increased fivefold to $100,000.00 by 1924, and by 1927, Governor Brandon was urging the Legislature to increase SLED’s force by twenty additional officers. In a corollary to his suggested addition of twenty new officers, Governor Brandon also advocated that the enlarged force be used “for the enforcement of the traffic laws on the highways of the State, viz: reckless driving, persons driving or riding on the highways of the State while intoxicated, and the overloading of vehicles, etc.,” and that half of the twenty new officers be deployed exclusively as “motorcycle scouts in the highways.”[3] Additionally, Governor Brandon’s speech presented fresh policies on the SLED’s funding sources and operational purview, specifically that SLED’s funding originate from fines issued by the department rather than from the state’s General Fund.
While Governor Bibb Graves later echoed Governor Brandon’s praise for SLED (Graves being particularly pleased by how the department’s fines and licensing operations bolstered state coffers), gubernatorial patronage for SLED soon broke upon the rock of Governor Miller.[4] Indeed, soon after assuming office in 1931, Governor Miller mothballed SLED amid the strains of the Great Depression, having characterized the force as “an extravagance and a source of constant annoyance and irritation” as well as simply “unnecessary.”[5] However, Governor Miller ensured that “the Statutes permitting [SLED officers’] appointment and making appropriations for their compensation should not be repealed; so they can become operative any time, if my opinion should prove wrong.”[6]
Despite its brief existence, the SLED experiment provided Alabama lawmakers valuable experience designing and deploying a standing state police power. SLED’s ranks also produced influential leaders like Chief Law Enforcement Officer Walter McAdory, who would later head the Alabama Department of Public Safety (DPS). While at DPS, McAdory also assigned some of his DPS officers to a “special investigators” corps, creating the precursor to Alabama’s State Bureau of Investigations.[7]
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Alongside Prohibition enforcement, state policing power needed to evolve to face the new challenges of automobiles. As evidenced in Governor Brandon’s 1927 speech to the Legislature, some leaders had begun conceptualizing state highway patrol as an essential duty of a state police force. One natural choice to patrol highways was the same state power responsible for building those roadways – the State Highway Department.[8]
Alabama legislators created the State Highway Department (SHD) in 1911, charging the department with the planning, construction, and maintenance of “all public roads, culverts and bridges of the State.”[9] Efforts of the SHD soon saw new highways crisscrossing the state. Yet, since these new state highways intersected many local law enforcement jurisdictions, patrol and enforcement responsibilities on these roadways were unclear. While keeping peace around a town square was the straightforward task of a police officer or sheriff’s deputy, providing holistic coverage for state highways was beyond local law enforcement’s jurisdictional and operational scopes. Moreover, since the extant but understaffed State Law Enforcement Department primarily focused on Prohibition-related crimes, the patrol of these sprawling veins of commerce fell to the State Highway Department.
Thus, in 1927, SHD received enforcement prerogatives over state roadway violations as part of its highway-related directives. SHD’s early law enforcement activities included licensing automobile drivers and ticketing roadway violations. SHD’s limited jurisdictional authority meant that its officers were only empowered “to make arrests for the violation…of the road laws of the State of Alabama.”[10] Despite such a narrow enforcement directive, SHD soon faced the same reality that the State Law Enforcement Department had, namely that SHD’s, “patrol of ten men was…entirely inadequate to handle the enforcement of the [motor carrier laws, motor vehicle license laws, and gasoline tax laws] throughout the state.”[11]
The lesson was clear: Despite their successes, the auxiliary-oriented designs of both SHD’s Highway Patrol and the State Law Enforcement Department were insufficient to sustain an effective state police force. A more focused, standalone state police power was needed.
An opportunity presented itself in 1935, when the people of Alabama reelected Bibb Graves to the governorship. In his opening message to the Legislature that year, Governor Graves reiterated his earlier 1931 support for vehicle licensing and associated state law enforcement measures. With Governor Grave’s backing, the Legislature passed Alabama Act 1935-331, creating a new standing state law enforcement entity – the State Highway Patrol (SHP).
Nonetheless, the transition from an auxiliary to a standing state police paradigm was neither clear-cut nor immediate, as evidenced by the fact that the Legislature continued to fund policing responsibilities for the State Highway Department (via Alabama Act 1935-19) while simultaneously passing Alabama Act 1935-331 to create the State Highway Patrol. The State Highway Commission’s 1937 Annual Report highlighted the complex relationship between the two bodies, declaring “[t]he Alabama State Highway Patrol, although not under the direct supervision of the Alabama State Highway Commission, functions in close cooperation with the State Highway Department.”[12] This cooperation was so close that the 1937 annual report by the State Highway Department subsumed the inaugural annual report of the State Highway Patrol.[13]
Ultimately, while tasked with similar-sounding duties, the legislatively-funded State Highway Commission’s policing authority was limited to road law violations, while the State Highway Patrol – funded solely by new motor vehicle licensing fees, fines, and forfeitures – fielded officers with a broader jurisdiction.[14] The State Highway Patrol’s model was an immediate success. Where the State Highway Department’s patrol had become bogged down amid the department’s manifold obligations, the State Highway Patrol paradigm centered on a clear and robust law enforcement mandate.
In 1939, building upon lessons learned from SLED and SHD’s enforcement operations and the State Highway Patrol’s resounding success, the Legislature approved the creation of the Alabama Department of Public Safety (DPS). This even larger administrative apparatus for state policing subsumed the State Highway Patrol and also introduced new divisions entitled the Driver’s License Division and the Identification and Investigation Division (the latter of which would evolve into the State Bureau of Investigations).[15] In addition to inheriting the State Highway Patrol’s funding source of drivers’ licensing fees and fines, the DPS also secured an appropriation from the state’s General Fund staring in 1955. This dual-source funding granted the department increased financial security.[16]
The Department of Public Safety is today organized into four divisions and fields most of the agency’s uniformed agents. The Highway Patrol Division covers canine deployment, traffic homicides, motor carrier safety and enforcement, and communications personnel related to state roadways. On state waterways, Marine Patrol Division troopers perform similar enforcement tasks as their highway colleagues. The Law Enforcement Training Center constitutes the third division, providing entry and continuing education for state troopers and other law enforcement in the state. Lastly, the Driver License Division supports eight distinct units covering every aspect of the licensing application, testing, reinstatement, and hearings processes.
State Bureau of Investigations (SBI)
Within weeks of the State Highway Patrol’s creation in 1935, the need to distinguish patrol responsibilities from investigative tasks resulted in the reclassification of officers based on patrol or investigation roles. Building on his experience overseeing the earlier “State Law Enforcement Department,” SHP Chief Walter McAdory selected two patrolmen from the seventy-four-man force to become “special investigators.”[17] By 1947, the efforts of McAdory’s two special investigators had grown to constitute the Investigative and Identification (I&I) Unit within DPS’s Highway Patrol Division.[18] Between 1947 and 1974, the constitution and nomenclature of the DPS unit housing “special investigators” changed often, owing to evolving interpretations of the role and utility of special investigators. In 1974, Governor Wallace christened the Alabama Bureau of Investigation as the administrative home of the DPS investigators, and, in time, the bureau constituted its own distinct division within DPS.[19] Later, pursuant to the creation of ALEA, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation was administratively separated from DPS, provisioned with its own command structure, and renamed the “State Bureau of Investigations.”[20]
The Criminal Investigation Division commands the majority of the State’s investigative agents and assets, including the Unmanned Aerial Systems unit, the state bomb squad, the state SWAT Team, the Special Victims Unit, the Vice and Special Operations Squads, the Major Crimes Unit, and the Special Projects Office.
SBI also houses the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS), which is responsible for “providing and maintaining mission-critical criminal justice information systems and services,” in the State of Alabama.[21] Staff offer training, provide guidance, and monitor compliance with the criminal justice information requirements outlined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Alabama Justice Information Commission.[22] Within the Division, staff are organized into the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), Criminal History Repository, Criminal Justice Compliance, Sex Offender Registry, and Uniform Crime Reporting Program Sections.[23]
Finally, the Fusion Center promotes information sharing between federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies and serves as a clearinghouse for intelligence related to crime prevention and counterterrorism. The Fusion Center does not investigate criminal activity. Instead, they support investigations by providing intelligence to other investigative agencies. Alabama Fusion Center analysts’ areas of expertise include cold cases, cybersecurity intelligence, human trafficking, labor trafficking, missing persons, narcotics, school safety, and suspicious activity reporting. The Fusion Center also inherited the residual analytical responsibilities of the Alabama Homeland Security Office.[24]
ALEA Consolidation
Governor Robert Bentley, elected in 2010 in the wake of the Great Recession, sought a consolidated state-policing agency as part of his campaign to economize state government spending. To this end, Governor Bentley issued Executive Order 32, creating the Integrated State Law Enforcement Task Force (ISLETF). He charged the task force with identifying cost-saving opportunities within state law enforcement operations.[25] The ISLETF members included representatives from Alabama’s major state-level law enforcement employers, including the Alabama Department of Homeland Security, the Alabama Department of Public Safety, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Alabama Department of Insurance (Fire Marshal’s Office), the Alabama Department of Revenue, and the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.[26] ISLETF members were charged with identifying ways to achieve operational cost-savings of at least 10 percent for their departments by October 2012. Executive Order 32 concurrently provided for creation of a supplementary analytical body, the Law Enforcement Stakeholder Advisory Task Force (LESATF), which would evaluate proposals put forward by the ISLETF for effect and feasibility.[27] The findings of the ISLETF—undergirded by the analysis of the LESATF—laid the groundwork for the creation of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). Cost-saving recommendations, included, but were not limited to, converting peace officer roles to civilian equivalents (e.g., fielding Revenue Motor Vehicle Inspectors instead of Revenue Enforcement Officers); developing resource-sharing practices of cross-trained personnel and equipment; advocating a singular, updated state-wide radio communications network; and practicing attrition-based retrenchment for certain command roles.[28]
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) was created by Alabama Act 2013-67 (codified as The Code of Alabama 1975 § 41-21-1 eq. seq). It represents the consolidation of law enforcement personnel and resources formerly spread across twelve different state agencies. As of 2024 and under the authority of the Secretary of ALEA, the agency is organized along three divisions – the Department of Public Safety, the State Bureau of Investigations, and the Office of the Secretary. The Department of Public Safety represents the uniformed officers of ALEA; these officers serve primarily in patrol, security, and enforcement roles. The State Bureau of Investigations encompasses ALEA’s special agents, who are primarily tasked with investigative and special project roles. The Office of the Secretary houses most of ALEA’s administrative, legal, and support personnel. Together, the Department of Public Safety, the State Bureau of Investigations, and the administrative apparatus of the ALEA Secretary’s Office work to fulfill most of the enforcement and investigatory functions of state police power in Alabama.
During 2023, ALEA personnel worked more than 32,000 vehicle crashes, inspected over 50,000 commercial motor vehicles, completed over 2,000 unmanned aerial vehicle flights, recovered 39 explosive devices, and seized over $37 million in narcotics. From traditional fingerprinting and illicit still-busting to cutting-edge biometric iris captures and generating three-dimensional crime scene models, ALEA draws on its legacy agencies’ experiences in deploying proven law enforcement techniques while also demonstrating a willingness to adapt in order to fulfill its ongoing commitment to protecting and serving Alabama’s citizens.[29]
[1] Alabama. Legislature, “Alabama Act 1919-551” (1919), http://archive.org/details/alabama-acts-1919_general.
[2] “Law Enforcement Department Report,” 1927_1929, Reel 15, Folder 3, ADAH Microfilm; “Law Enforcement Department Report,” 1923 1920, Reel 15, Folder 5, ADAH Microfilm.
[3] Alabama. Legislature, Alabama Legislative Acts, 1927 (General, Regular Session of 1927, Special Session of 1926-1927), 1926, http://archive.org/details/alabama-acts-1926_1927.
[4] Alabama Legislative Acts, 1931 (General), 1931, V, http://archive.org/details/alabama-acts-1931_general.
[5] “The Birmingham News 13 Apr 1930, Page 1,” Newspapers.Com, 1930; Alabama. Legislature, Alabama Legislative Acts, 1931 (General), XXIX.
[6] Alabama Legislature, Alabama Legislative Acts, 1931 (General), XXIX.
[7] Arthur F. Howington, “John Barley Corn Subdued: The Enforcement of Prohibition in Alabama,” The Alabama Review 23, no. 1 (January 1970): 213; “Investigative and Identification Division and Alabama Bureau of Investigation History,” November 24, 2008, https://web.archive.org/web/20081124133512/http://www.dps.alabama.gov/ABI/history.aspx.
[8] Alabama Act 1927-347.
[9] Alabama Act 1911-206.
[10] Alabama Act 1927-347.
[11] “Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the State Highway Department,” Annual, Twenty-Fifth Annual Report (Montgomery, Alabama, 1935), 109, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021028694&view=1up&seq=329&skin=2021&q1=officer.
[12] “Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the State Highway Commission of Alabama” (Montgomery, Alabama, 1936), 47, Hathi Trust, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021028694&view=1up&seq=508&skin=2021&q1=officer.
[13] “Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the State Highway Commission of Alabama,” 47–49.
[14] Alabama Act 1935-331.
[15] Alabama Act 1939-181.
[16] Alabama Act 1955-044.
[17] “Investigative and Identification Division and Alabama Bureau of Investigation History.”
[18] The “identification” part of the unit’s title stemmed from its responsibility to maintain the state fingerprint repository.
[19] “Executive Order Number 55 by Governor George C. Wallace. – Alabama Governors’ Executive Orders Collection – Alabama Department of Archives and History,” accessed November 15, 2022, https://digital.archives.alabama.gov/digital/collection/executive/id/227/rec/56.
[20] “Investigative and Identification Division and Alabama Bureau of Investigation History.”
[21] Ibid.
[22] ALEA provides support services to the Alabama Justice Information Commission, so its records are included within this RDA.
[23] While the Sex Offender Registry Unit coordinates and maintains the statewide online sex offender registry apparatus, local law enforcement agencies are custodians of the sex offender records of their respective jurisdictions.
[24] As of 2024, The Alabama Homeland Security Office’s grant operations were subsumed within the Office of the ALEA Secretary’s Office – Grant Programs Office
[25] Robert Bentley, “Executive Order Number 32 by Governor Robert Bentley. – Alabama Governors’ Executive Orders Collection – Alabama Department of Archives and History,” accessed May 24, 2022, https://digital.archives.alabama.gov/digital/collection/executive/id/505/rec/31.
[26] “Integrated State Law Enforcement Task Force (ISLETF) 10% Savings Report,” 2012, 2, Alabama Governor (2011-2017: Bentley) Chief of Staff Administrative Files, 2011-2017, Box SG038195, Alabama Department of Archives and History.
[27] “ISLETF 10% Savings Report,” 5.
[28] “ISLETF 10% Savings Report,” 33.
[29] “Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report,” Annual (Montgomery, Alabama, 2021), https://adah.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_58533fd0-1a52-4928-853a-a516b9cc9f80/.
- Representatives of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency
- Governor George C. Wallace’s Executive Order No. 55 (1974)
- Governor Robert Bentley’s Executive Order No. 32 (2012)
- Alabama Acts 1911-206, 1927-347, 1935-331, 1939-181, 1955-044, and 2021-246.
- Code of Alabama 1975 Title 26 Chapters 19A and 19B; Title 32 Chapter 7; and Title 41 Chapter 27
- Code of Alabama 1975 § 13A-8-31.2; § 15-27-1 et seq.; § 16-28-40; § 31-9A-15; § 31-9C-1 to § 31-9C-7; § 32-2-100; § 32-2-120; § 32-6-1 to § 32-6-48; § 33-6A-6; § 36-21-55.1; § 36-33-2; § 41-9-590 to § 41-9-655.03
- 28 CFR Parts 20 and 23
- 14 CFR § 61.51 and § 91.419; 27 CFR § 479.104; 49 CFR § 172.101 and § 383.5
- Drivers Privacy Protection Act; Pub. L. 103-322
- Real ID Act of 2005; Pub. L. 109-13
- Alabama Administrative Code Sections 265-X-1 to 265-X-8; 760-X-1 to 760-X-6; 760-X-20
- Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) Annual Reports
- State Highway Department Annual Reports
- Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 32, “Post-conviction remedies.”
- Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration Rule 19, “Uniform traffic infractions.”
- ALERRT Center at Texas State University. “About ALERRT.” Texas State University. 2023. https://alerrt.org/about.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program. “About the UCR Program.” U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation. September 2018. https://le.fbi.gov/file-repository/about-the-ucr-program.pdf/view.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation. “National Crime Information Center (NCIC).” FBI Resources for Law Enforcement. 2023. https://le.fbi.gov/informational-tools/ncic.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Recording Legible Fingerprints.” FBI Resources for Law Enforcement. 2023. https://le.fbi.gov/science-and-lab/biometrics-and-fingerprints/biometrics/recording-legible-fingerprints.
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “Fiscal Year 2023 Preparedness Grants Manual.” U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 2023. https://www.fema.gov/ sites/default/files/documents/fema_gpd-fy-23-preparedness-grants-manual.pdf.
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. “Safety Audits.” U.S. Department of Transportation. 2024. https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/NewEntrant/SafetyAudits.aspx.
- Howington, Arthur F. “John Barley Corn Subdued: The Enforcement of Prohibition in Alabama.” The Alabama Review 23 no. 1 (January 1970): 212–25.
- “Integrated State Law Enforcement Task Force (ISLETF) 10% Savings Report,” 2012. Alabama Governor (2011-2017: Bentley) Chief of Staff Administrative Files, 2011-2017. Box SG038195. Alabama Department of Archives and History.
- “Investigative and Identification Division and Alabama Bureau of Investigation History,” November 24, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081124133512/http://www.dps.alabama.gov/ABI/history.aspx.
- “Law Enforcement Department Report,” 1923 1920. Reel 15, Folder 5. ADAH Microfilm.
- “Law Enforcement Department Report,” 1927_1929. Reel 15, Folder 3. ADAH Microfilm.
- Legal Information Institute. “Summons.” Cornell Law School. 2024. https://www.law. cornell.edu/wex/summons.
- Legal Information Institute. “Warrant.” Cornell Law School. 2024. https://www.law. cornell.edu/wex/warrant.
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).” U.S. Department of Transportation. 2024. https://www.nhtsa.gov/ research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars.
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “The National Driver Register (NDR) and Problem Driver Pointer System (PDPS).” U.S. Department of Transportation. 2023. https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/national-driver-register-ndr.
- Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative. “About the NSI.” U.S. Department of Homeland Security. September 28, 2022. https://www.dhs.gov/nationwide-sar-initiative-nsi/about-nsi.
- National AMBER Alert Coordinator. “Guidance on Criteria for Issuing AMBER Alerts.” U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs. April 2004. https://amberalert. ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh201/files/media/document/AMBERCriteria.pdf.
- Newspapers.com. “The Birmingham News 13 Apr 1930, Page 1.” 1930.
- U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance. “Fusion Center Guidelines: Developing and Sharing Information and Intelligence in a New Era.” U.S. Department of Justice. August 2006. https://bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/ xyckuh186/files/media/document/fusion_center_guidelines.pdf.
For the Record 