Consolidating Police Departments In Blair County: The Future Is Now

Here’s an interesting proposal I became aware of earlier today. I think this model could solve a lot of current issues, provide better coverage, eliminate the need for PSP to fill in the gaps and cost less than the current system in place. Some food for thought:

“NORTHERN BLAIR COUNTY PD

*Municipalities with a PD (Excluding Tyrone School District PD)

Crime Rates/ Police Callouts |Thefts, Car Accidents, Domestics, Assaults, Traffic, etc.| (Approx.) :

Antis Twp– 300

*Bellwood Boro– 150 (6 Officers)

Snyder Twp– 150

*Tyrone Boro– 200 (12 Officers)

Tyrone Twp– 50

*Total # of Officers = 18

Total: 700-850 Crimes/ Police Callouts per year (Approx)

Population (Approx.) :

Antis Twp: 6500

Bellwood Boro: 1800

Snyder Twp: 3500

Tyrone Boro: 5300

Tyrone Twp: 1900

Approx. Population: 19,000

-—————————————————————

CENTRAL BLAIR COUNTY PD
*Municipalities With a PD
(Excluding: AASD PD, Penn State Altoona PD, UPMC Altoona PD, Van Zandt VA PD, Norfolk Southern PD)

Crime Rates/ Police Callouts |Thefts, Car Accidents, Domestics, Assaults, Traffic, etc.| (Approx.):

*Altoona City: 800-1000 (63 Officers)

*Allegheny Twp: 350 (10 Officers)

*Logan Twp: 850 (16 Officers)

*Duncansville Boro: 100 (8 Officers)

Tunnelhill Boro: 5

*Blair Twp: 120 (5 Officers)

Newry Boro: 10

Frankstown Twp: 200

*Hollidaysburg Boro: 100 (8 Officers)

*Total # of Officers= 110

Total: 2200-2350 Crimes/ Police Callouts Per Year (Approx)

Population (Approx)

Altoona City: 46000

Allegheny Twp: 6700

Logan Twp: 12300

Duncansville Boro: 1200

Tunnelhill Boro: 250

Blair Twp: 4500

Newry Boro: 270

Frankstown Twp: 7400

Hollidaysburg Boro: 5800

Approx. Population: 84,420

—————————————————————
EASTERN BLAIR COUNTY PD
*Municipalities with a PD

Crime Rates/ Police Callouts |Thefts, Car Accidents, Domestics, Assaults, Traffic, etc.| (Approx.):

Catherine Twp: 50

*Williamsburg Boro: 100 (7 Officers)

Woodbury Twp: 50

Huston Twp: 50

*Martinsburg Boro: 100 (5 Officers)

*North Woodbury Twp: 75 (4 Officers)

*Total # of Officer= 16

Total: 425-450 Crimes/ Police Callouts Per Year (Approx)

Population (Approx)

Catherine Twp: 725

Williamsburg Boro: 1200

Woodbury Twp: 1700

Huston Twp: 1300

Martinsburg Boro: 1900

North Woodbury Twp: 2600

Approx. Population: 9,425

—————————————————————
SOUTHERN BLAIR COUNTY PD
*Municipalities with a PD
(Excluding: Spring Cove School District PD)

Crime Rates/ Police Callouts |Thefts, Car Accidents, Domestics, Assaults, Traffic, etc.| (Approx.):

Juniata Twp: 25

*Freedom Twp: 50 (7 Officers)

Taylor Twp: 75

*Greenfield Twp: 50 (2 Officers)

*Roaring Spring Boro: 150 (4 Officers)

*Total # of Officers= 13

Total: 350-400 Crime Rates/ Police Callouts (Approx.)

Population (Approx):

Juniata Twp: 1100

Freedom Twp: 3400

Taylor Twp: 2500

Greenfield Twp: 4100

Roaring Spring Boro: 2600

Approx. Population: 13,700

*Total # of Officers in Blair County: 157

*Not including the excluded departments/ Blair County Sheriff’s Department

Total Population of Blair County: Approx. 125,000

—————————————————————

Consolidating Police Agencies and covering a larger area would save tax payers more money than they would paying for State Police coverage through their Municipality. At any given night in Blair County, there is only 2 or 3 State Police Officers patrolling the entire county. That would be a very slow response time compared to a faster response time with the new proposed county police agencies. 9 of the 25 Blair Counties Municipalities contract with the State Police for Police Protection. 14 Blair County Municipalities have their own Police Force, which is both full-time, and part-time. 2 Blair County Municipalities contract through another Municipality for police protection (Huston Twp. , Newry Boro). By consolidating, this would save the city, boroughs, and township’s millions of taxpayers dollars, and give us a better quality policing.

Approx. 25,000 residents of Blair County rely on State Police Coverage, and that spans from the most Southern tip of Blair County, to the most Northern tip.

(Ex.) Avg. Officer of the proposed county departments would make $40-50k annually.
A new Police Tax would be introduced per citizen in Blair County= $55 (Approx.) Now I’m aware that citizens don’t like to hear the word “tax”, but it would be the same or cheaper than the tax that you are paying right now for your police coverage. What it really comes down to is the response time, and the quality of the police service. An officer could be on scene faster with this new model rather than waiting for the State Police to respond which can take upwards to 20 minutes.

Police chiefs wouldn’t have to give up their power through consolidation, rather, they would all still be labeled as chiefs and command different shifts by still remaining within their chief powers.

This new model would employ more Police Officers in Blair County, which essentially will boost the economy of our region. It would also cause less havoc for the police dispatchers because they would be able to dispatch officers to a scene with less confusion of which agency they should contact, and they also wouldn’t have to worry about making sure if there is an officer on duty in the given borough or township. Protecting citizens is the #1 priority of this model, and it is the most logical and fiscal way. If this was to be put in effect, it would be the first of its kind in Pennsylvania.”

Questions? Opinions? Let’s hear them.