The call rings out: A domestic incident in progress. As the state trooper races to the scene, there is a nagging question on his mind, “Will I have back-up this time?” His clearly marked vehicle, which long ago surpassed the 100,000-mile mark, comes to a stop outside the residence. The trooper double checks his gear as the seconds tick by. He stands ready, and the equipment check is merely serving as a way to expend the nervous energy that is generated by the wait. The officer understands that the protocol is to wait for back-up, but he cannot help but wonder what is going on inside that house. As the seconds turn to minutes, his mental exercise begins to reach full tilt. Do I go in or do I wait? Do I go in or do I wait? Do I go in or do I wait? Do I go in or do I wait?
The governor’s proposed cuts to our state police force could make this scenario (and others like it) an all too familiar one. The lack of funding could bring our trooper compliment down from 4,600 to just over 3,000 state-wide and cause the closing of up to six barracks. At a time when rural Pennsylvania is facing more pressure from the Marcellus Shale boom, deep funding cuts, and an ever shrinking municipal police presence, our state police troopers are needed now more than ever. The current force is already overburdened and now the governor is going to ask them to do even more with less?
It is becoming more and more apparent that Tom Corbett’s blind allegiance to an extreme ideology is the driving force behind his administration. His attack on education and voter’s rights could be seen as predictable, but now his ideology has blinded him to the fact that he was once Attorney General. Who would ever have thought that our governor would support a plan to cut our cadet classes and shrink our state police force? But it has come to that; ideology trumping the public safety. Tom Corbett’s plan is unsafe and unnecessary.
There is no question we need to streamline our government expenses, but I believe this is one step too far. The revenue to sustain and increase our police presence is available if the governor would show the political courage to obtain it. The natural gas and oil companies who are driving the economic boom in our rural areas are also causing great impacts. Our rural roads are more congested than ever before, and our small towns are overwhelmed. The need to patrol our highways to ensure safe passage is severe. The population pressures also merit additional troopers to secure our towns. However, we continue to not require a responsible severance fee of the companies that are profiting from our natural resource. This severance fee is included in the price consumers pay, but we fail to collect it. How many troopers could be employed if we only had the political courage to collect a fee that is already included in the gas price? Unfortunately, in Tom Corbett’s Pennsylvania, I guess we will never know. The governor has embraced the term “Impact fee.” However, I guess his ideology will not allow him to see the impact that increased truck traffic and population is having on our rural communities.
I encourage you to contact our governor and tell him that his proposed cuts to our state police will compromise the public safety. It should be noted that the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor enjoy around the clock state police protection. Our families deserve, at the very least, a prompt response at the other end of the line. Our officers deserve adequate troop numbers so they can properly perform their duties without putting themselves at further risk. The public safety should never be compromised due to ideological devotion.
Scott Conklin
State Rep., D-Centre County