LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Pennsylvania has more police departments than any other state. Many believe some of these departments are too small to provide adequate services to their communities.
28/22 News Reporter Joe Mason has more on why some say regionalizing may be the answer to these problems.
According to a state community and economic development study, there are 41 regional police departments representing 143 municipalities in 28 counties.
According to a 2018 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Pennsylvania has 896 local police departments, the most of any state.
The state is second only to Texas in most local and state police departments. Some believe many of these departments are too small to effectively serve their communities.
In fact, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development says nearly 60% of these smaller municipal police departments have less than 10 officers.
One of these departments is the McAdoo Police Department in Schuylkill County. 2,474 people live in the borough, according to the US Census Bureau.
One on-duty police officer serves the nearly 2,500 people. The ratio has some business owners concerned.
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"It's scary because I know we don't have to police protection that we should have here in McAdoo, and it definitely makes you second-guess and think a little bit more about being more defensive," IMOJ Pools and Hardware Supplies Owner Rob Wesner told 28/22 News.
Nanticoke Police Chief Michael Roke says regionalization has a lot of benefits for smaller departments.
"It would give them the staffing levels that they would need. Maybe they don't have a detectives squad, maybe they don't have a drug squad. They would be able to incorporate that into the department, to the regionalized department," Chief Roke explained.
Chief Roke also says the process can sometimes be difficult to navigate.
"Cities don't have the same type of rules as a borough. A borough doesn't have the same type of rules as a township, or a first-class township, or a second-class township. And those rules drive what the municipality has to do to run your police department," Chief Roke continued.
John Yudichak is the president of Luzerne County Community College.
The college is now offering a police academy on its campus.
He says regionalization is a good thing.
"When I was a state senator, I was a big supporter of regionalization. I see this as an opportunity in terms of this training center to promote regionalization throughout Luzerne County and throughout northeastern Pennsylvania," Yudichak said.
According to the state's website, the governor's Center for Local Government Services provides technical and financial assistance to municipal police departments interested in regionalization. Grant funding is also available.
