Wednesday, 16 May 2012 18:52

State Police counting cadets – before they hatch?

Training a class of State Police troopers may seem like a straightforward way to fill the ranks, but there are a few big unknowns in the mix this year.  A lot is riding on the next few months for the agency, which has hundreds of vacancies to fill and not enough money with which to fill them.

115 cadets are set to head to the state police academy in Hershey next month, and according to State Police spokesman Sgt. Anthony Manetta, about 20 percent won’t make it.

“Some of it’s for academic reasons and some of it’s for physical reasons or ailments that they might have throughout the course of the training,” said Manetta about the future cadets. If they quit too far into the six-month program, the state can’t back-fill their spots.

“For a finite period of time as we lose cadets, we can replace [them],” said Manetta.  “But, for every day that goes by when we have to replace a cadet, they’ve lost a day’s training time and we can only catch them up so far.”

Not even the money for the cadet class is a done deal.  The $7.9 million needed to pay for the class was proposed by the governor and state senators.  The state’s spending plan isn’t due to be finalized until the end of June – after the cadets start their training – but the State Police are still banking on that appropriation.

“We still have to believe in what we’re told,” said Manetta.  “The further back we push the class, the longer it takes us, and the more short we become on troopers.”

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Harrisburg WITF

State Police say low numbers demand changing trooper stations, patrols

Plans to close a state trooper barrack and shift personnel from another facility could become a common theme if the agency’s numbers keeping dropping, the top official of the Pennsylvania State Police said at a joint legislative hearing on Monday.  Cameras rolled as state lawmakers asked hard-hitting questions about a plan to close an Ephrata, Lancaster County state police barrack and rejigger the personnel of another station in the city of Lancaster.

State Police are framing the proposed changes as an overall gain for the commonwealth.  “Our patrol areas will stay the same.  The amount of cars in those zone areas will stay the same.  What would happen is we would be moving some of our administrative personnel,” said Commissioner Frank Noonan, characterizing the change as a reassignment of priorities, so no region has too many or too few troopers.

But Noonan added that if the ranks of troopers drop too much, the force will have to make “serious” adjustments.  If every position in the state police were filled, the ranks would stand at nearly 4700.  Noonan said Monday the agency’s own vacancies could rise to 600 by the end of the year.

“You know, we have to make decisions so that these things don’t hit us all at once,” said Noonan during his testimony.  “That’s basically what we’re discussing these plans.  And these plans will be – I mean, we would, this would be something we would start, maybe we would do it here first but it will go throughout the state.

The proposal to close the Ephrata barrack is due to a reduction in reported incidents.  “[T]he area’s growing, and they’ve formed a number of regional police departments, so they’re taking over much of the area that we actually patrol,” said Noonan, adding that the state police could manage the area around Ephrata with about 10 troopers, instead of the 25 stationed there now.  He expects he’ll decide whether or not to close the Ephrata station within the next month.

The personnel change for the Lancaster station could hinge on how much the state police get in state funding next year for additional cadet classes: new troopers.  Noonan said specialized services won’t be affected by the shifting of troopers that could happen in Lancaster.  Only administrative personnel would be moved.

“We would have a lieutenant in charge instead of a captain” at the Lancaster station, said Noonan.  “We wouldn’t have as many clerks, things such as that.  So it would be more administrative.  But the actual fire marshals, vice units, the accident reconstruction personnel, they’ll all stay.”

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Lancaster Intelligencer

Originally Published May 15, 2012 23:08

By TOM MURSE
Staff Writer
The county’s top law enforcement official wasn’t notified. Neither was the chairman of the county commissioners.

State lawmakers here?

They, too, were kept in the dark. The brass of the Pennsylvania state police kept their plan to shutter the Ephrata barracks and strip Lancaster of its headquarters hush-hush — that is, until word began to spread from the troopers and their union about a month ago.

Top officials from the taxpayer-funded agency, who faced lawmakers for the first time at a Monday hearing in Gap, were roundly criticized by local leaders for their lack of communication.

But they weren’t there to hear it.

State police Commissioner Frank Noonan and Lt. Col. George Bivens, without explanation, left the nearly three-hour hearing after their brief testimony at the beginning.

Their departure frustrated local officials.

“I was disappointed that I was not consulted on such a large potential public safety issue and that they left the hearing when they were done testifying,” District Attorney Craig Stedman said Tuesday.

Stedman, who testified after Noonan and Bivens, told lawmakers he first heard of the realignment plan through “the grapevine.”

Likewise, county Commissioner Scott Martin told members of the joint House and Senate panel that he became aware of the planned closure of the Ephrata barracks and downgrade of Troop J on Lincoln Highway East only through “whisper down the line.”

Attempts to reach a state police spokesperson were unsuccessful on Tuesday. Spokeswoman Maria A. Finn did not return a call for comment, and a voice mailbox for the agency’s Public Information Office was full Tuesday.

A state police official who answered the phone in Harrisburg said there was no other way to reach the office.

Under the realignment plan, the troopers now stationed at the Lancaster barracks would report to Troop L in Reading, though they would continue to be based here.

The Ephrata station, which patrols Elizabeth, Brecknock and Caernarvon townships and the northern part of Salisbury Township, could be closed under the realignment plan.

At Monday’s hearing, Noonan and Bivens said the moves would have a “neutral” effect on police coverage — a statement that caught state Rep. Gordon Denlinger’s attention.

“While it’s true that the flow of communication has not been consistent or adequate, the deeper concern on my part is the public safety impact that will result from transferring police personnel out of our area,” said Denlinger, a Republican who represents northeast Lancaster County.

“The suggestion that troopers and facilities can be transferred out of Lancaster County without negative impact is absurd,” he said Tuesday.

To date, though, the state police have provided no consistent written plan for the realignment, leaving lawmakers scratching their heads.

“It’s one part of their decision-making process that I’m disappointed in,” said state Sen. Lloyd Smucker, who requested the hearing. “A decision of this magnitude, you would think, would involve a public vetting, or at least a vetting with law enforcement and local officials.

“That just didn’t occur.”

Smucker said he hasn’t seen any proposal in writing.

“I’ve never seen, in fact, an outline of exactly what Troop J — or what’s left of Troop J — would look like after the potential changes are made,” he said.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/649405_Officials-rap-state-police.html#ixzz1vbcKOtie

2012 Picnic Information Flyer 

Casco Bay Sunset Cruise

 http://www.ntctroopers.com/

By Pennsylvania State Police

Published: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 – 9:22 am

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 7, 2012 — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Governor Tom Corbett’s proposed 2012-13 budget will allow Pennsylvania State Police to add a cadet class of 115 troopers to help with the decrease in staffing this year, Commissioner Frank Noonan said today.

“Patrol operations are the foundation in our efforts to safeguard Pennsylvania,” Noonan said. “Across the state, communities face the harsh realities of gun violence and drug addiction – and certainly having to do more with less. Our numbers continue to decrease because of budget constraints and trooper retirements, but adding a cadet class this summer will help support state police functions.”

“Although these are very difficult economic times, Governor Corbett continues to make public safety his number-one priority so the Pennsylvania State Police can continue to deliver services to our citizens,” Noonan said.

Among the proposed changes in the new budget:

In order to address attrition, Corbett’s proposed budget provides $7.9 million for a new class of 115 cadets at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy to begin in June. With the added class, state police project approximately 500 vacancies by June 2013. The greatest challenge facing the state police is ensuring that funding is available to maintain an adequate complement of enlisted personnel in the field.

Recognizing the importance of the support provided to the department’s enlisted personnel by civilian employees, Corbett’s budget does not include any furloughs of enlisted members or civilians.

The budget also recommends a change in the fine-sharing revenue agreement for state police who patrol municipalities that lack their own local police force. The fund from tickets issued by troopers is projected to receive approximately $8 million annually and will be used to purchase equipment, including radio equipment and other protective devices.

The governor’s proposed budget includes funding to replace higher-mileage patrol vehicles. This will enable the department to replace those vehicles considered less than safe for our troopers.

The Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement receives funding to cover the cost of liquor control enforcement activities. Corbett’s proposed budget will fund an additional Liquor Enforcement Officer Trainee class this calendar year. Additional liquor enforcement officers will augment existing vacancies in the bureau.

Corbett’s budget also includes funding to support critical systems such as the Criminal History Database, the Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network and the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, all of which provide essential information and services for troopers and municipal police officers across the state.

“Governor Corbett has tasked us with evaluating operations to ensure that resources are being used in the most effective manner,” Noonan said. “Our command staff will conduct a comprehensive review of all areas, including the consolidation of stations and aviation operations, for possible savings and improvements – while not decreasing service to our citizens.”

“Before any decision is made we will evaluate all options and certainly focus on the factors that must be considered to make sure public safety is not compromised,” he added. “We will continue to transition highly-trained officers from desk jobs to patrol duties, which will elevate the department’s community presence and improve response capabilities throughout Pennsylvania, especially in rural areas. It boils down to creating a safer environment for our citizens.”

In November 2011, the Office of Homeland Security was fused with the Pennsylvania State Police to increase integration with law enforcement personnel.

Visit the Pennsylvania State Police online at www.psp.state.pa.us.

Media contact: Maria A. Finn, 717-783-5556

SOURCE Pennsylvania State Police

The election results all by an 8-7 vote for PSTA executive board conducted at the round robin are as follows:

President Joseph R. Kovel  (FOP Lodge No. 57, Hollidaysburg)
Vice-President Todd Rudy  (FOP Lodge No. 41, Harrisburg)
Secretary Richard A. Neiswonger  (FOP Lodge No. 48, Erie)
Treasurer Harry Dannehower  (FOP Lodge No. 40, Bethlehem)