×

Local coverage by state police costing $600M

Cost covers 2.5M residents in 1,300 municipalities without local police force

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania State Police say it costs $600 million a year to provide full-time coverage to 2.5 million residents in nearly 1,300 municipalities that don’t pay for a local police force.

State Police Commissioner Tyree Blocker gave the figure at Thursday’s Senate Appropriations Committee hearing. The state police hadn’t divulged a cost figure in response to repeated requests by The Associated Press.

Senators’ questions about the cost came after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf proposed charging those municipalities an annual $25-per-person fee for the coverage. The proposed fee would raise $63 million, but it’s unclear whether the Republican-controlled Legislature would approve it.

That $600 million is roughly half of the state police’s $1.2 billion budget, most of which is funded by money constitutionally restricted to highway construction, repair and safety.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today