First, the Title of "officer" was changed to "State Trooper" to more align with other Highway Patrol agencies nationally.

Second, and most visible to the public, the white and blue police car was changed entirely to a silver and black paint scheme.

[7] The department consists of five divisions: Office of the Director, Highway Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Technical Services, and Agency Support.

Together, these five divisions provide scientific, technical, operational, and regulatory services to Arizona residents, and to the state's criminal justice community; one of the more famous subdivisions of the Criminal Investigations Division is the "Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission" task force (better known as "GIITEM"), which was formed to combat the growing gang infestation problems mainly in Maricopa County (the Phoenix area), even though their jurisdiction is statewide.

[8] In 2011, the Arizona State Capitol Police department was merged with DPS, alongside the Highway Patrol Division.

The handgun issued as the department weapon is the Glock 17 Generation 5, chambered in 9MM, and carried with three to four 17-round magazines.

[14] They dispatch for the entire agency, including Task forces, such as GITTEM, Criminal Investigations and the Aviation Bureau.

[16] The agency, along with the Arizona Highway Patrol Association, remembers each fallen officer at an annual memorial ceremony on the first Monday of May.