---
category: U.S. Government
location: Sacramento, California
start: 1929
summary: The California Highway Patrol is California's state police agency whose investigation
  of the 1983 'Queen's accident' - a collision involving a Mariposa County Sheriff's
  vehicle and a Secret Service car - was reportedly suppressed after the state Attorney
  General's office discarded its report.
tags:
- Organization
- LawEnforcement
- California
- StatePolice
---

The [CHP](/organizations/california-highway-patrol/) is the state police agency of [California](/places/california/). It was involved in the investigation of the "Queen's accident" on March 5, 1983, a head-on collision involving a Mariposa County Sheriff's vehicle and a Secret Service car. [CHP](/organizations/california-highway-patrol/) Assistant Chief [Richard Hanna](/people/richard-hanna/) reported on the collision, and [CHP](/organizations/california-highway-patrol/) Sergeant [Bob Schilly](/people/bob-schilly/) provided details about the accident.[^1]

The original [CHP](/organizations/california-highway-patrol/) report on the "Queen's accident" was sent to the [State Attorney General's office](/organizations/california-attorney-generals-office/) ([John Van de Kamp](/people/john-van-de-kamp/)) in Sacramento. However, [John Van de Kamp](/people/john-van-de-kamp/) reportedly told his assistant to "discard" or "trash" the report. All of the "crack M.A.I.T.S. team" [CHP](/organizations/california-highway-patrol/) officers involved in the original investigation either resigned or were transferred or fired afterward. The [CHP](/organizations/california-highway-patrol/) Commander and the Deputy Commander who supervised the M.A.I.T.S. investigation also resigned.[^1]

---

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.