PA State Troopers? do they exist?

[Cypher]

I've driven back and forth from Erie to Pittsburgh 7 or 8 times this summer and not once have I seen a speed trap. When I drive from Erie to Albany I see NY State Troopers every 30-45 minutes or so. Can you guys explain why the commonwealth of PA seems to have a non existence presense on I-79 ?

[duckfan]

You do realize that you've just jinxed yourself, right?

[PABear31]

Yes Virginia, the Pennsylvania State Police does exist. The problem is that we are so seriously short handed these days that the uncommitted time of the patrol officer to monitor traffic is almost non-existant.

[Metro174]

Cross into Pennsylvania from Maryland on I70. Speed limit drops from 65 to 55 on the state line. I can assure you one will be there. I cross there quite a bit and have never failed to see one.

[Crazed]

Cross into Pennsylvania from Maryland on I70. Speed limit drops from 65 to 55 on the state line. I can assure you one will be there. I cross there quite a bit and have never failed to see one.

HAHA yep they caught me doing almost a 100 on I70 but luckily my DCUs and military ID got me out of it.

But that was the first and last time I've seen a PA state trooper. Hopfully it will stay that way.

[e-man]

Ill go make some phone calls. I know alot of troopers form when I worked my last job. They would love to hear they arent writing enough 3362a1 citations, I-79 you say??? Between Erie and The I-279 split? BINGO....

[gotthblues]

Yes Virginia, the Pennsylvania State Police does exist. The problem is that we are so seriously short handed these days that the uncommitted time of the patrol officer to monitor traffic is almost non-existant.

question,, here the patrol is short handed too, but they work traffic and accidents, some are size and weights, interdiciton, dl fraud, but thats it,, they are called hwy patrol, ive heard some refered to as state police, is that you case, what job description does the "state police" have.

[SinePari]

what job description does the "state police" have.

State Police provide full-service law enforcement throughout the state. Usually the states that do not let the sheriffs have patrol functions. Some areas may be just traffic management, highway interdiction, and others parts of the state they are like deputy sheriffs in small towns with no or p/t PDs.

Highway Patrol is just that, highway patrol.

[justice12]

State Police provide full-service law enforcement throughout the state. Usually the states that do not let the sheriffs have patrol functions. Some areas may be just traffic management, highway interdiction, and others parts of the state they are like deputy sheriffs in small towns with no or p/t PDs.

Highway Patrol is just that, highway patrol.

Don't rely on the name of the agency to determine what their responsibilities are. You have to research each agency to see what they do. Every state except Hawaii has a uniformed state LE agency. It may be "state police", "highway patrol" or "state patrol". In Alaska it is called "Alaska State Troopers". It's just a name, nothing else.

Usually, yes, if it is called "highway patrol", then they patrol state highways for mainly traffic violations and accidents. However, that does not mean they don't back up locals on regular calls. And, they often have units that are not highway patrol. Example, California Highway Patrol also has auto theft units, it provides the governor's security detail and is the uniformed security for all state offices and buildings.

[gotthblues]

State Police provide full-service law enforcement throughout the state. Usually the states that do not let the sheriffs have patrol functions. Some areas may be just traffic management, highway interdiction, and others parts of the state they are like deputy sheriffs in small towns with no or p/t PDs.

Highway Patrol is just that, highway patrol.

thanks, thats what i thought, but i wanted to know from someone who is or around that type of agency, on a personal note, that would suck, i like ours the way it is, working accidents, interdiction, writing tickets, duis, and of course, writing other officers (just kidding, it aint that way).

[PABear31]

I prefer things the way the are in PA for most of the state PSP is the police. We are the primary police agency for 85% of the land area of the Commonwealth. In addition we provide support services to municipal police departments. Everything from forensic services to aviation support. We offer EOD services, a clandestine lab team, SERT backup (SWAT), investigative assistance and manpower backup when requested. PSP also administers the training for all police officers in PA. We do all of this with less that 16% of all the police officers in PA. We are understaffed and overworked. We have a command staff that has no clue what it's like on the road in the 21st century and a governor that treats us like house pets. With all of that there is no other department that I would rather work for. The troopers that I work with are the greatest guys in the world.

[gotthblues]

I prefer things the way the are in PA for most of the state PSP is the police. We are the primary police agency for 85% of the land area of the Commonwealth. In addition we provide support services to municipal police departments. Everything from forensic services to aviation support. We offer EOD services, a clandestine lab team, SERT backup (SWAT), investigative assistance and manpower backup when requested. PSP also administers the training for all police officers in PA. We do all of this with less that 16% of all the police officers in PA. We are understaffed and overworked. We have a command staff that has no clue what it's like on the road in the 21st century and a governor that treats us like house pets. With all of that there is no other department that I would rather work for. The troopers that I work with are the greatest guys in the world.

okay, tell me how you really feel. , so you take calls, burglary, vandalism, barking dang dogs, here they have a state swat, handle prison escapees, stuff like that, but they dont do interal investigatiions, into pd's and such, here the okla st bur. of invest. does that as well as crime scenes, do the states that have "state police' not have that, you guys handle that yourselves?

[gotthblues]

let me articulate better, here, the police and sheriffs dept do the "police work" take all calls, handle crime scenes sometimes with the st bureau, burgs, vandalisms, domestics, so on. the patrol works traffic (drunks, accidents, basic traffic enforcement, so on) if an area or small town does not have a pd, then the sheriffs cover it. if there is a prison escape, then the patrol and doc have authority, and the patrol has a swat if the area in question doesnt have one. but basically the highway patrol is just that, i assume that "state police" act in a capacity that would cover but highway patrol and sheriff, right. at least that s what i get from reading some of the new articles on the home page, " state police investigated abuse from local pd"
me personally, i hated working in a pd, i would loooooooooooooove to work on the patrol,,and if i have my way i will this summer.

[PABear31]

As a rule we don't get involved in investigations in areas covered by municipal police unless they request assistance. If requested we will conduct criminal investigation into the actions of local law enforcement, but we will not conduct investigations into allegations of policy violations by local officers. I was assigned to our turnpike troop for a while and it drove me nuts. Troop T is basically a highway patrol unit and it bored the heck out of me. I couldn't wait to get back to county work. A long time ago the sheriffs in PA voluntarily gave up their law enforcement responsibities so by default the PSP became the cops throughout most of the state.