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Bill would force municipalities to pay for police

By Josh Krysak 3 min read

One local lawmaker is attempting to require some municipalities across the state to pay $100 per resident for state police coverage. State Rep. Peter J. Daley (D-California) said if passed, a bill he is co-sponsoring would require any municipalities in Pennsylvania with more than 9,000 residents and no police force to pay for their state police coverage.

Daley said the bill is more about fairness than about trying to make money.

“A lot of people are talking about this issue and there is some momentum there. There is some support,” Daley said.

The bill, which Daley said is still in committee, would give the state police leverage to force large municipalities to maintain their own police force.

“We want to get these people to step up to the plate,” Daley said. “Right now, this burden is shouldered solely by the state police.”

But some local officials are less than enthusiastic about the bill, which would target large Fayette County municipalities like North Union and South Union townships.

According to the bill, the number of residents in eligible municipalities would be determined by the most recent census data.

While most of the municipalities in Fayette fall well short of the 9,000-resident requirement in the bill, some, which do meet the requirement like Uniontown City and Connellsville, have their own police force. Others, however, who meet the 9,000 standard, rely solely on state police coverage.

In the 2000 census, 14,140 residents were living in North Union Township. Under the proposed bill requirements, the township, which does not maintain a police force, would be billed $1,414,000 for state police services.

While South Union Township maintains a four-person code enforcement staff that provides coverage seven days a week for its 11,337 residents, according to 2000 census figures, the township would also be charged for state police coverage under the proposal.

Supervisor Thomas Frankhouser said the township spends about $55,000 annually for the code enforcement officers, not including equipment and cars, a considerable savings from the more than $1.1 million they would spend under the proposed bill for state police coverage.

“They take care of what they can, but if we have a murder or a wreck or a criminal robbery we have to call state police,” Frankhouser said.

Frankhouser said the issue always arises around election time and called the proposal discriminatory.

“It has got to be unconstitutional,” Frankhouser said. “How can we have to pay and the neighboring township with 8,999 do not?”

And Frankhouser said the idea being publicized by lawmakers that larger municipalities need additional police coverage is ludicrous, noting that South Union’s crime rate is 10 times lower than Uniontown city.

“We are not going to throw away money if we don’t need to. You can’t get any better policemen than the state police,” Frankhouser said. “They are fully trained and they are the best. And the people here are satisfied with their coverage.”

Daley said that the bill, if passed, would certainly allow time for municipalities to start their own force before requiring payment, but would also require action by the municipalities or face the fiscal ramifications.

“The point is that these municipalities are among the fastest growing in the state and are able to provide other amenities that most cannot,” Daley said.

“Why should everyone else in the commonwealth pay for their public safety, when these communities are wealthy enough to afford their own coverage but are not doing so? Even the smaller communities are pitching in to either have their own or combined regional coverage.”

Daley noted that the state already mandates all municipalities to either support fire services or provide fire coverage through a cooperative agreement.

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