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Glenn A. Walp
About the Pennsylvania
State Police According to the Pennsylvania State
Police, they were “created as an executive department of state government by Senate Bill 278, which was signed into
law by Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker on May 2, 1905. The Department became the first uniformed police
organization of its kind in the United States and a model for other state police agencies throughout the nation.
Opposition to the Department's creation
was strong and persistent. Because organized labor and others feared that the State Police would be used as a private army,
the original complement was limited by law to 228 men. They were to patrol Pennsylvania's entire 45,000 square miles. The
force was divided into four Troops: Troop A, Greensburg; Troop B,. Wilkes-Barre; Troop C, Reading;
and, Troop D, Punxsutawney.”
Today, the Pennsylvania State Police
is a full service law enforcement agency operational bureaus such as Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Liquor Control Enforcement
and Emergency Services. Additionally, they have support functions such as technology, forensic services,
research and development, and staff services.
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