Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner: Department facing funding and recruitment challenges

• Scott LaMar
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Scott LaMar has worked in both radio and television for more than four decades.
  
  Currently, LaMar is the Host and Executive Producer of The Spark program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.
  
  Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program, Smart Talk.
  
  In addition to his on-air duties, LaMar has moderated political candidate debates, including those for candidates running for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate and was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
  
  LaMar often emcees or moderates local events and has gone as far as California to emcee a national event.
  
  The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. He has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
  
  LaMar and The Spark have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.
  
  A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.

 Dan Gleiter / PennLive

Airdate: May 1st, 2023

 

The Pennsylvania State Police was the first uniformed police organization of its kind when created in 1905. Today, it is the tenth largest police agency in the United States, serving a population of more than 3.3 million residents over a 36,000 square-mile area. The Pennsylvania State Police has a budget of more than $1.5 billion and a statewide complement of approximately 6,500 enlisted and civilian employees, which includes an authorized complement of 4,740 State Police Troopers.

The Pennsylvania State Police are facing challenges – they’re being asked to do more and cover more territory – in townships, boroughs and cities that once had their own police departments. The State Police are assisting local police departments as well.

More responsibilities and duties also mean they need more funding and equipment. It also comes at a time when many troopers are nearing retirement age and not as many people are applying to become troopers.

Col. Christopher Paris is the Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police. He was appointed to that position earlier this year by Gov. Josh Shapiro.

On The Spark Monday, Paris indicated the State Police are competing for funding and advocated for Gov. Shapiro’s proposal to created a dedicated funding source for the department,”The governor’s proposed budget calls for a creation of a Public Safety and protection fund, a PSP fund. Currently, the way that the state police is funded comes from multiple sources. But the biggest issue that the creation of the PSP fund would take care of would be that we since the 1920s have gotten revenue out of the motor license fund and that sets up PennDOT, who is an integral partner in the operations that we perform and are a great asset and resource to us. But those dollars could be going for road and bridge repair rather than going to fund the state police. And there’s been various operational cycles, I would say, where that amount of appropriation coming out of the motor license fund has been higher and the legislature has seen fit to try and draw us out of that. But, you know, to give us our own dedicated funding source would be huge so that we don’t have to compete for those public infrastructure dollars.”

Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner, Col. Christopher Paris

The Pennsylvania State Police are not attracting as many applicants as in past years. Col Paris was asked why,”I think it’s a nationwide situation. I think that there have been some challenges as a result of the economy. You know, the unemployment rate is the lowest, I believe, since 1969. And in short, I’m not an economist, but I’ve read…that for every prospective employee, there are two jobs. So there’s not enough people to be butchers and bakers and candlestick makers, if you will. Beyond that, I think the challenging operating environment of law enforcement, we’ve had challenges with the result of George Floyd and some calls for reform there, which I believe, we’re taking strides, making strides in addressing those issues In Pennsylvania. Just since January 1st, we’ve had ten police officers shot, three fatally. So, I mean, I think it’s a perfect confluence of storms that perhaps people entertaining a very wide array of prospective employment have seen a challenging operating environment. They see potentially a dangerous job. And I think we’re having a more difficult time. And from my conversations with our partners across the country, it’s nothing unique to Pennsylvania or at the state police level. I mean, there are municipal police that are very challenged as well. So what I think our position needs to be is that we have a job that requires people to be very committed. But it’s a noble profession.”

Has Col. Paris seen any trends in crime Pennsylvania? “Gun violence is our number one concentration along with illicit drugs. So, to the point just to speak very plainly about it, it’s not an urban problem. It’s an urban it’s a suburban and it’s a rural problem. We’re trying to do as many collaborations with our federal and municipal partners, task forces to try and really concentrate on the illegal gun problem out there that,  some of these incidents are driven by. We’re working with our municipal partners in some of the urban areas like Philadelphia and Aliquippa, for example, just to give you an East and a West example where we’re going in to try and assist those operations with with municipal agencies. And we’re trying to take a strategic approach through intelligence and through undercover operations to really get to the heart of that problem.”