The Vermont State Police (VSP) is the state police agency for the US state of Vermont. The force has jurisdiction throughout the entire state. The Vermont Public Safety Commission directs policy and selects the Commander. The Commander is Colonel Matthew Birmingham. The Vermont Public Safety Commissioner is Keith W. Flynn. There are 327 sworn state troopers.==History==Prior to 1947, Vermont law enforcement was county based. Each of the state's fourteen counties had an elected sheriff responsible for providing all law enforcement services to towns in the county without their own police departments. Opposition to establishing a state police force existed, partly based on the state's low crime statistics, a reluctance to add new state spending, and a suspicion of unelected centralized authority. - Source: Wikipedia