From the YDR - thoughts?
No free police ride
Updated: 07/07/2009 11:00:33 AM EDT
In many ways, it’s not a fair system.
Most municipalities in York County either have their own police force, like York City or Springettsbury Township, or have joined a regional force, such as Northern York County Regional. Of the county’s 72 municipalities, 53 pay for their own police coverage.
That leaves 19 covered solely by the Pennsylvania State Police: Chanceford, Codorus, East Hopewell, Fawn, Hopewell, Lower Chanceford, Shrewsbury, Peach Bottom, Springfield, Warrington and Washington townships, and Crossroads, Delta, Franklintown, Jacobus, Jefferson, Lewisberry, Loganville and Wellsville boroughs.
Together, they are home to nearly 67,000 residents out of York County’s population of approximately 420,000 in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In that year, the state police investigated 259 violent crimes in York County, including murder, negligent homicide, rape, assault and robbery. State police also investigated 712 property crimes, from burglary to stolen cars to arsons, according to a database put together by the Allentown Morning Call.
In that same period, York City Police investigated 440 violent crimes and 2,143 property crimes among the city’s 40,300 residents, according to the database.
The difference is, people living in York City pay for the police coverage they get from the city police department, which this year is budgeted for $10.1 million, for a total cost of $250.62 per resident.
Those living in the 19 districts covered by the state police pay nothing extra for police coverage.
Last week, the state House Government Committee passed a bill that would change that. It would spend three years scaling up a payment until those townships and boroughs would pay $156 per resident each year.
There is a provision in the bill to allow municipalities to pay for only emergency coverage, but that would end regular patrols by police on the rural roads.
That doesn’t sit well with officials in those areas. In Fawn Township, for instance, the entire township budget is only about $800,000 a year, and the new charge would cost its 2,727 residents more than $425,000.
Residents and officials in those municipalities contend they’re already paying for state police protection through state income taxes and can’t afford to pay the proposed charge without raising property taxes, which they, of course, don’t want to do.
But representatives including Rep. Eugene Depasquale, D-York City, say it’s not fair that some municipalities get patrol coverage from state police without cost, while others take the responsibility for police protection on themselves and pay a hefty price, including training, vehicle costs, health insurance and pensions, while also paying for state police.
“We are paying twice,” DePasquale said.
There are different circumstances to consider in this. Those 19 municipalities are either small boroughs with few residents or sprawling townships with a scattered population.
Obviously Warrington Township doesn’t need the same amount of police coverage as York City, and to charge $156 per resident seems steep. But it also doesn’t seem fair that police protection should be free if you live in the right area.
Perhaps what is needed is something more in line with how some municipalities pay for coverage by regional police, where the township sets a number of hours per week when a patrol car is expected to be in the area and the municipal government pays accordingly. That way the local officials have some say in how much they spend while at the same time acknowledging that nothing is really free any more.
