Share:
House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 12, 2023 02:24 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative James B. Struzzi, II |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Removing PSP Complement Cap |
| In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation removing an artificial “complement cap” which limits the maximum authorized number of Pennsylvania State Police troopers. When the State Police was established in 1905, the General Assembly at that time fixed a “complement cap” on this new police force, limiting it to no more than just 228 officers. Over time, the duties of the State Police have expanded and the professional of law enforcement itself has evolved. While the complement cap has periodically been raised, recently the need for having a complement cap at all has come under scrutiny. The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee reviewed the cap in 2021, concluding that it was no longer necessary. This year, during Appropriations Committee hearings, Colonel Paris, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, detailed the many and increasing demands on our state law enforcement troopers and requested the elimination of the complement cap. The Pennsylvania State Troopers Union has echoed this request. The State Police complement cap last was raised in 2001, while a technical change in the law in 2013 had the effect of modestly increasing the number of authorized officers to 4,719. But in light of modern appropriations practices, with stricter oversight by the General Assembly and the Governor alike, a statutory complement cap is outdated. Modern budgetary controls can adequately prevent inappropriate growth of the State Police complement, while removing the statutory complement cap can give current and future administrations the flexibility they need to respond to changing law enforcement needs. I hope you will join me in sponsoring legislation to eliminate the artificial statutory complement cap on the authorized number of Pennsylvania State Police troopers. |
Introduced as HB1149