As PA police departments regionalize, questions arise about gains, losses

Pennsylvania stands alone when it comes to policing: The commonwealth has more local police departments than any state in the country. 

As municipalities and boroughs around Pennsylvania grapple with financial burdens and police departments struggle to recruit and retain officers, more localities are opting to join forces in an effort to regionalize their services. 

But a regional approach to policing isn’t for everyone, and some communities recently cut off discussions for a regionalized police force. 

For localities that can no longer provide 24/7 police coverage or afford to do without raising taxes, the question then becomes: Is regionalization the answer – or can the State Police fill the gaps? 

In recent years, more communities have opted for the former – and are seeing the benefits.   

Financial forces 

Several municipalities in Central and Western Pennsylvania have regionalized in recent years or are looking into making the transition, going through the state Department of Community and Economic Development to determine the feasibility, impact and cost savings related to potential regionalization. 

The state constitution provides the basis for police collaboration, making regional policing an option for municipalities that have difficulties providing a full range of services to meet increasing demand. Other alternatives include contracting to another municipality or relying on state police.

According to the Pennsylvania State Police, roughly two-thirds of Pennsylvania municipalities rely on them for part- or full-time patrol services in lieu of a full-time local police force. The area covered by PSP includes 82% of the commonwealth’s land mass, but just 26% of residents. 

PSP Communications Director Lt. Adam Reed said that taking on additional coverage allows PSP to work with the existing police departments to adapt coverage. 

“Anytime a municipality is absorbed into PSP coverage, it’s simply a matter of allocating resources – existing resources – that are available to cover that area,” Reed told City & State. “It would be up to the command staff of that troop and that station to allocate the resources appropriately to absorb that area into our average area, really using what they have.”

From a statewide perspective, Pennsylvania has both a far-reaching state police footprint and a widespread collection of local police departments.

Currently, there are 41 regional police departments in 28 counties statewide, covering a combined population of about 725,000 and a radius of 46,000 square miles, according to Justin Backover, state Department of Community and Economic Development spokesman, with 12 of the regional departments formed in the last five years. 

There are 2,560 municipalities in Pennsylvania; 1,304 of them have state police coverage only, Backover said. Another 887 municipalities have their own departments.

Of the remaining municipalities, 143 comprise the 41 regional police departments, and 226 municipalities contract services from a municipal or regional police department for their police coverage.

Municipalities commonly save money when they regionalize or absorb, Backover said. He explained that while the average per capita cost for a municipal police department in 2023 was $285, the cost for a regional police department was $204 – a nearly 30% savings per capita.

Backover added that most municipalities that regionalize report lower costs, more combined officers, higher salaries, better officer retention rates, increased morale, more patrol coverage, faster response times, fewer part-time officers, less overtime, improved administration, more patrol supervision and training, less duplication of services in a region and potential regional police grants.

He added that DCED has heard of what he termed “minor” disadvantages to regionalization, like municipalities reporting less direct municipal control and less availability for officers to conduct minor municipal tasks or services, such as parking meter maintenance or issuing permits.

For local officials on the ground, regionalization has had a positive impact on both finances and response times.

Studies have found that regional policing can improve uniformity and consistency of enforcement, coordination of law-enforcement services, recruitment and training, personnel efficiency, management and supervision, career enhancement opportunities and, perhaps most importantly, the bottom line. 

“(There) is a hope that it both saves money and improves quality of service and response time for those residents. And that’s what I see happening in my Senate district,” said Democratic State Sen. Lindsey Williams, who represents part of Allegheny County and communities along the Allegheny River Valley. 

Boots on the ground

Just north of Pittsburgh, in Armstrong County, Leechburg Borough recently ended discussions with Parks Township for a regionalized police force, with local officials saying the move wasn’t a good fit. 

But nearby Kiski Township opted to join the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department in June, garnering the support needed from Gilpin Township, Ford City and Freeport officials to be accepted to the department. 

Ford City Borough Manager and Gilpin Township Supervisor Charles Stull told City & State that increasing costs and recruitment and retention struggles can be the driving force behind regionalization. 

“Full-time departments can get very costly for municipalities,” Stull said. In 2022, Gilpin had a full-time police force, but nearby Freeport saw its officers resign, creating the need for local collaboration. 

“With that, we realized there’s some value to shared services,” Stull said. The communities formed the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department in October 2022; soon after, Ford City Borough showed interest in joining forces as the borough faced turnover trouble and potential tax increases. 

Stull said Ford City was able to join and thus avoid raising taxes on residents. “It worked out as a good deal for them, and it worked out for us to be bringing on another municipality, which led to more resources, better staffing – the whole nine yards,” he said. 

Republican state Rep. Abby Major, who represents the region in Armstrong County, told City & State that the regional approach made recruitment and retention easier for the department and that some officers received pay increases despite overall cost per capita going down. 

“Now (officers) work for one department, they’re getting paid better and they have better schedules,” Major said. “Other municipalities have been considering regionalizing here in Armstrong also, but their primary concern is getting better coverage.” 

Major said local police departments only have enough staffing for part-time coverage, with PSP filling in the gaps. 

And for rural areas, where communities are widespread and terrain can vary, PSP response could be limited. 

“For (municipalities) that were relying on (PSP), response times average anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 minutes. It all depends on where the troopers were within the very large area they cover,” Stull told City & State. “Within SAPD, you’re looking at no more than 10 minutes for an emergency call. Our staffing is set up so that there is typically an officer in every municipality at all times.”

Stull also noted that SAPD had next to no increase in costs during its first year or two of operation and that there was a slight increase in costs this year due to pension conversions. Cost estimates from 2023 show more than $58,000 in savings for Gilpin Township compared to 2022. 

“It was a pretty significant savings overall that we’re seeing compared to what we would be spending to maintain our own full-time police department,” he said. 

Other regional departments have experienced similar cost savings. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department’s budget increased by 5% this year, but it still costs its member communities less than what they were paying for their individual departments years ago.

Elsewhere, Cheswick, East Deer and Springdale Townships are paying roughly $272,000 toward regional police this year, well below the cost of paying for individual forces less than a decade ago. 

The only major holdups for municipalities still on the fence about regionalization are concerns related to individuals’ ranking and issues around local control. 

Partners in crimefighting

In a 2014 report by the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee on police consolidation, loss of municipal control was the main obstacle identified in forming regional police departments with labor issues close behind.

The LBFC report found that a sample of regional police departments’ operating costs were approximately 25 percent less than stand-alone departments, but some had increased costs in the first few years after formation. 

Meanwhile, the regional approach also raises concerns related to the potential loss of local services and local control, loss of citizen contact and the hierarchy among officers. 

“There’s always that power struggle, not only in the ranks of the department, but in the ranks of the elected officials too,” Stull said of department consolidation. “We’ve been lucky with our department that we haven’t had that power struggle between municipalities. We all see the greater good here.”

Community collaboration

More rural communities are recognizing the benefits of a regionalized police department. And while the number of areas covered by regional police departments has increased in recent years, some municipalities have experienced holdups or stopped the regionalization process upon further review. 

The politics at play, as well as a perceived loss of direct citizen contact, are the most common obstacles that can get in the way of community departments’ regionalizing. 

Police and residents agree that community policing is the best way to remain engaged – and instill trust – with the people police are serving. Whether or not community policing lends itself to a regional approach depends on the area, its needs and the cooperation with surrounding communities. 

Some municipalities and local officials may fear losing local control and the feeling of having a local police force focused solely on their area. 

“A lot of residents never like to lose the familiarity and the service that they’ve come to know from their local police department,” Lt. Reed said. 

Williams argued that, although each community has different needs, the benefits of regionalization – and the impacts it can have on the approach to community policing – can go a long way in improving the quality of police services. 

“What helps everybody stay safer is when you know who’s coming to your house – when you know the police officer who’s at your local high school football game the night before, and then something happens, he’s the one who responds,” Williams said. “When they’re in a bigger department, they can spend more time on training officers, they can spend more time on supervising, and we all know that experience matters.”