Cop welfare: Big, thriving communities should pay for police
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Providing safe streets is a core function of local governments, whether they're small towns or big cities, but too many Pennsylvania municipalities are sticking state taxpayers with their costs.
The worst offender is Hempfield, where 40,721 residents get state police protection, at no charge, because they don't have a township force. By contrast to the sprawling township, nearby communities of Penn Township, Murrysville, Greensburg and Jeannette all have their own police. For comparison, the city of York, which has just about the same population as Hempfield, spends $15 million on public safety.
The 21,137 folks in Unity Township likewise save on paying for local police by relying on state troopers, while roughly the same number of citizens in Upper St. Clair pay $4.6 million for public safety services.
Even if the state weren't facing a whopping deficit, this type of welfare for thriving suburban communities would be wrong. But with a $2.3 billion hole in the budget, it is unconscionable.
Hempfield and Unity, both in Westmoreland County, are the two largest communities that rely solely on state police, but another 19 townships and boroughs with populations exceeding 10,000 are doing the same thing. In Western Pennsylvania, the list includes Mount Pleasant and Derry townships in Westmoreland, North Union and South Union in Fayette County, and White in Indiana County.
A case can be made for letting smaller municipalities off the hook, but bigger communities put bigger demands on state police patrols. State Rep. John Pallone, a New Kensington Democrat, has the right idea in trying to get townships and boroughs with more than 10,000 residents to pick up their share.
House Bill 747, the latest version of a measure he has introduced in prior years, doesn't mean the towns would have to create their own police departments. They could form regional forces with adjacent communities or purchase the service from a neighbor, as many towns do already. But those that want to stick with state police coverage would have to pay $100 per resident per year.
It's time the townships and boroughs that use state police in place of their own local force start paying their own way.
First Published March 19, 2009 12:00 am
