OLYMPIA - State troopers regulate the flow of traffic on highways, but they also keep political discourse moving smoothly and safely in the state capitol.

The Washington State Patrol may be mostly known for its role on the roads, but troopers are in charge of security for the legislature, governor and citizens who participate in the political process.

"We have a very beautiful campus here, and people come down here all the time just to look around, and we want them to feel comfortable doing that," said Lt. Monica Alexander, who heads the executive services section of the WSP that watches over the capitol.

Alexander called patrolling the highways the backbone of the state patrol but said it has many other roles that people may not know about.

For example, an aviation unit is part of the patrol and lately has been kept busy by the mudslide recovery efforts in Oso. The state patrol also has a lab and investigates crimes from around the state.

Troopers on the capitol campus do everything, from carrying the flags as the legislature convenes to dealing with attempted suicides or threats against lawmakers.

"Sometimes, things go on in the (legislative building), you get people upset about different laws and different things, and they say things they probably shouldn't say or do things they shouldn't do, and we investigate those complaints," Alexander said.

Troopers constantly are preparing for events and rallies, she said. They often do background checks on groups that want to protest.

"We always want to be prepared for rallies, because people have every right to protest and it's our troopers' responsibility to allow the people who want to protest their space, and allow people that oppose the protest their space, without those two things colliding."

During the legislative session, each of the eight patrol districts in the state sends at least one trooper to provide extra support in Olympia. They rotate in two-week assignments.

Recently, the state patrol has had a shortage of troopers. Alexander said it has not yet affected her division, but it could.

"When we're down as many troopers as we are in the field, if that means at some point that I have to run a little shorter (on staff), then I get it," she said. "It will have an impact on all of what we call our specialty positions because we've got to be conscientious of what the citizens expect of us, and what we expect of our agency."

The priority is field operations - the officers who patrol the highways - and that division is currently short by 110 troopers, Alexander said. Officers are retiring faster than the WSP can recruit and train new troopers.

The Washington State Patrol Academy graduates around 60 cadets every two years. Last month, 35 new troopers were welcomed to the state patrol in a ceremony in Olympia, after completing more than 1000 hours of training and undergoing intensive background checks, including polygraph tests.

"We're all very particular," Alexander said. "We feel a lot of pride in what we do, and don't want to change that."