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                                                       PRINTER'S NO. 127

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA


HOUSE BILL

No. 104 Session of 2007


        INTRODUCED BY OLIVER, McCALL, COHEN, WATERS, JAMES, SOLOBAY,
           MELIO, YOUNGBLOOD, RAYMOND, READSHAW, SCAVELLO, PARKER, KULA,
           HERSHEY AND FREEMAN, JANUARY 30, 2007

        REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, JANUARY 30, 2007

                                     AN ACT

     1  Providing for police force augmentation grants; establishing the
     2     Police on Patrol Grant Program and the Police on Patrol Fund;
     3     and conferring powers and duties on the Pennsylvania
     4     Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

     5     The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     6  hereby enacts as follows:
     7  Section 1.  Short title.
     8     This act shall be known and may be cited as the Police on
     9  Patrol Act.
    10  Section 2.  Definitions.
    11     The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
    12  have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
    13  context clearly indicates otherwise:
    14     "Base complement."  The number of police officers in a police
    15  department as of the effective date of this act.
    16     "Commission."  The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and
    17  Delinquency.
    18     "Crime reports."  The Pennsylvania State Police Uniform Crime


     1  Reports as of June 9, 2006.
     2     "Fund."  The Police on Patrol Fund established in section 4.
     3     "Municipality."  A city, borough, incorporated town or
     4  township in this Commonwealth.
     5     "Police department."  A public agency of a municipality
     6  having general police powers and charged with making arrests in
     7  connection with the enforcement of the criminal or traffic laws.
     8     "Police officer."  A full-time active employee of a police
     9  department assigned to criminal or traffic law enforcement
    10  duties in a specific uniformed police district within a
    11  municipality. The term excludes auxiliary and fire police,
    12  persons assigned to transportation centers, persons employed to
    13  check parking meters or to perform only administrative duties or
    14  persons on special detail or on restricted or limited duty.
    15     "Program."  The Police on Patrol Grant Program established in
    16  section 3.
    17     "Salaries."  The term shall include health benefits but shall
    18  not include overtime, longevity or pension compensation.
    19  Section 3.  Program.
    20     (a)  Establishment.--There is established within the
    21  commission the Police on Patrol Grant Program. The program shall
    22  provide grants to police departments for reimbursement of the
    23  cost to municipalities of salaries of new police officers hired
    24  above the base complement.
    25     (b)  Applications.--On or before August 31 of the fiscal year
    26  in which this act takes effect, a municipality may submit an
    27  application to the commission requesting a grant. The
    28  application shall be on a form required by the commission and
    29  shall include or demonstrate all of the following:
    30         (1)  The name and address of the municipality and the
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     1     name and telephone number of a contact person.
     2         (2)  The amount of the grant requested and the proposed
     3     number of police officers whose salaries will be reimbursed
     4     by the grant together with a detailed breakdown of the
     5     salaries involved.
     6         (3)  Evidence satisfactory to the commission of the
     7     method used for calculating the base complement. It is the
     8     intent of the General Assembly that grants shall only be
     9     awarded for the purpose of increasing the number of active
    10     police officers in a police department in excess of the base
    11     complement.
    12         (4)  A statement that the police officers to be hired
    13     with the proceeds of the grant will be involved in activities
    14     that are focused on interaction with members of the community
    15     and emphasize proactive crime control and prevention.
    16         (5)  Evidence that public safety will be enhanced by
    17     increasing the number of police officers involved in the
    18     activities described in paragraph (4).
    19         (6)  An analysis of the crime statistics for the
    20     municipality.
    21         (7)  Any other information required by the commission.
    22     (c)  Review by commission.--The commission shall review the
    23  application and shall approve or deny the application by October
    24  31 of the fiscal year in which this act takes effect. While
    25  conducting its review, the commission shall consider the
    26  following:
    27         (1)  Whether or not the municipality has demonstrated
    28     that the activities of the police officers hired with funds
    29     from the program will have a substantial beneficial impact on
    30     the municipality.
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     1         (2)  Whether or not the municipality has demonstrated
     2     that the police department will provide specialized training
     3     to the police officers hired with funds from the program to
     4     enhance their conflict resolution, mediation, problem-
     5     solving, service and other skills needed to work in
     6     partnership with members of the community they will be
     7     serving.
     8     (d)  Award of grant.--Upon being satisfied that all of the
     9  requirements for awarding a grant to the applicant have been
    10  met, the commission may approve the application, and, if
    11  approved, the commission shall award the grant and notify the
    12  municipality of such approval.
    13     (e)  Payment of grant proceeds and verification of
    14  compliance.--Proceeds of grants awarded under this act shall be
    15  paid by the commission to a successful applicant in four equal
    16  installments at the beginning of each three-month period
    17  following the notification of the award by the commission.
    18  However, the municipality shall certify in writing to the
    19  commission at least 15 days but not more than 20 days prior to
    20  the start of each three-month period, commencing with the second
    21  period of each year that the grant is to be awarded or renewed,
    22  the size of its police department's base complement as of the
    23  date of the certification. The commission is authorized to
    24  withhold all or any portion of a payment if the size of the
    25  municipality's base complement, not including the number of
    26  police officers covered by the grant, is less than the size of
    27  the base complement included in the municipality's grant
    28  application.
    29     (f)  Limitations.--
    30         (1)  Grants may be awarded in the amount of up to $50,000
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     1     for each police officer hired over the base complement.
     2         (2)  Forty percent of the moneys in the fund shall be
     3     reserved by the commission for grants to any municipality
     4     that had 75 or more homicides by firearm or handgun in 2005
     5     according to the crime reports.
     6         (3)  Twenty-five percent of the moneys in the fund shall
     7     be reserved by the commission for grants to any municipality
     8     that had 50 but not more than 74 homicides by firearm or
     9     handgun in 2005 according to the crime reports.
    10         (4)  The remaining moneys in the fund shall be used for
    11     grants to any municipality that had five but not more than 49
    12     homicides by firearm or handgun in 2005 according to the
    13     crime reports.
    14         (5)  If reserved funds under paragraphs (1) and (2) are
    15     more than are needed to satisfy the total amount of grants to
    16     be awarded to the municipalities described is such
    17     paragraphs, the commission may utilize the excess funds for
    18     grants to other municipalities as it shall determine.
    19         (6)  Funds made available by the program shall not be
    20     used to supplant local funds, but shall be used to increase
    21     the amount of funds that would, in the absence of funds
    22     received under this act, be made available from local
    23     sources.
    24     (g)  Proration.--If the total amount of grants exceeds the
    25  amount of money in the fund, the amount of grants shall be
    26  prorated among the successful applicants.
    27     (h)  Renewal of grants.--A grant awarded under this act may
    28  be renewed for up to two additional fiscal years after the first
    29  fiscal year during which a municipality receives its initial
    30  grant if the commission determines that the proceeds of the
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     1  initial grant were used in a manner required under the
     2  municipality's application and if the municipality can
     3  demonstrate significant progress in achieving the objectives
     4  outlined in the initial application.
     5  Section 4.  Police on Patrol Fund.
     6     (a)  Establishment.--There is hereby established within the
     7  State Treasury a restricted account to be known as the Police on
     8  Patrol Fund.
     9     (b)  Source of funds and nonlapse of funds.--Moneys
    10  appropriated for the purposes of the program shall be deposited
    11  into the fund. Except as provided in section 6, moneys in the
    12  fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse.
    13     (c)  Use of funds.--Moneys in the fund shall be used for the
    14  grants to be awarded under the program and for the purposes set
    15  forth in section 5(b). Moneys in the fund are hereby
    16  appropriated, upon approval of the Governor, for the purposes
    17  set forth in this act.
    18  Section 5.  Administration.
    19     (a)  Guidelines.--The commission may develop guidelines for
    20  the implementation of the program.
    21     (b)  Expenditures.--The commission may utilize up to 3%
    22  annually of the moneys in the fund, up to the sum of $300,000,
    23  as allocated by the Governor, for expenses incurred in
    24  administering the program. Such sums shall be allocated at the
    25  start of each fiscal year prior to the awarding of any grants or
    26  renewals by the commission.
    27  Section 6.  Expiration of program.
    28     The program shall expire at the end of the third full fiscal
    29  year following the effective date of this act. Moneys in the
    30  fund on the expiration date shall lapse into the General Fund.
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     1  Section 7.  Effective date.
     2     This act shall take effect immediately.



















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