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| Political Turf War Engulfs State Sheriffs
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By: Patrick Barron, The Bulletin
06/22/2007
With all the financial problems state government faces today, you'd think that lawmakers would jump at an opportunity to add over two thousand law enforcement officers to the streets if it could do so without any cost to the taxpayer. Well, you'd be wrong.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has 2,200 county sheriffs and deputy sheriffs. They are highly trained peace officers who fulfill a variety of tasks, which differ from county to county. In more metropolitan areas, where local governments fund police forces themselves, the office of the sheriff acts primarily as an enforcement arm of the court: running the county jail, transporting prisoners to and from court appearances, protecting the courthouse, and serving court orders. In more rural areas the office of the sheriff carries out duties that most of us would view as standard policing: traffic control, criminal investigation and apprehension, etc. Since all deputy sheriffs must complete as rigorous training as any other peace officer in the commonwealth, they are well able to perform these tasks. Actually their training is even greater than the police academy, because they must be trained in civil court process, too. Many deputies work as part-time police. It is ludicrous that when they take off their sheriff shirt and put on their police shirt their power and authority changes.
Polls have shown that most residents assume that sheriffs already perform all these policing-type duties and want them to continue to do so. A sheriff must earn wide political support. Sheriffs are not appointed; they are elected officials and as such are well known and highly regarded leaders of their communities. Sheriffs that lose the confidence of their constituents fail to get re-elected and lose their jobs. There is no review board or cumbersome labor law procedure to protect them. When the public feels that the sheriff is not doing his job properly, he's out. That's it. Therefore, sheriffs become highly attuned to the needs of the local community of which they are an integral part.
Recent court cases have created legal ambiguity over the sheriffs' police powers. As a result the sheriffs' offices have ceased performing some of their policing duties that the public wants and expects. The legislature could clear up this matter fairly easily by passing legislation that would clarify sheriffs' powers. That it has failed to do so is a crime, and the crime is about to get even worse.
An unholy alliance of Republican protectors of the state police and Democrats seeking control of more political patronage jobs - plus both parties' posturing as tough on crime - is about to cost the commonwealth's taxpayers a quarter billion dollars a year. Forever.
State Rep. John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, 32 of his Republican colleagues, and seven Democrats have signed a letter to Gov. Rendell asking his support for adding ten thousand police officers to the commonwealth. The source of this nice, round number is unknown. It probably just has a nice ring to it, a real attention getter. Of course, one does not just sign a bill, borrow the money (there is no money for funding this initiative but only unspecified efficiencies and other reductions in state government) and have ten thousand policemen patrolling the state tomorrow. So why doesn't Perzel first correct this known problem with the powers of the office of the sheriff? We really could have over two thousand peace officers on the streets tomorrow - and at no additional cost to the taxpayer.
The ugly answer is patronage and turf. Perzel and undoubtedly Rendell want more of their own "boys" whose jobs depend upon their political patronage and who will work - only in off hours, of course - to keep them in office. And the state police, regardless of the marvelous job they may be doing, are not above protecting their own turf at the expense of public safety. None of this is a crime, but it sure as heck should be.
Patrick Barron is a consultant to the banking industry and lives in Pennsbury Township, Chester County. He can be reached at PatrickBarron@msn.com. |
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