1 week Ago By The Times-Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
Apr. 12—WILKES-BARRE — The Pennsylvania State Police this week announced that patrol troopers at every station across the Commonwealth are now equipped with body-worn cameras to record public interactions. PSP successfully completed its initiative to outfit troopers with these cameras and to update the mobile video recorders in patrol vehicles — weeks ahead of schedule.
"Our ability to maintain efficient operations relies heavily on the trust placed in us by the communities we serve," Col. Christopher Paris, PSP Commissioner, said. "With the completion of our body-worn camera roll-out, we aim to strengthen that trust by documenting our public interactions and demonstrating our commitment to transparency, accountability and respectful police services.
" PSP's initiative involved outfitting more than 3,000 troopers whose assignments are spread across 89 stations within 16 troops with body-worn cameras. The initiative also upgraded the mobile video recorders in more than 1,400 patrol vehicles. Legislators praise PSP upgrades "Body cameras play an increasingly vital role in law enforcement, helping to preserve critical evidence and foster accountability, ultimately increasing the public's trust in our officers," said Sen.
Lisa Baker, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I look forward to working with our law enforcement partners on our legislation to strengthen and consolidate our body camera authorization laws, ensuring all authorized entities are subject to the same standards, regulations and requirements." Body-worn cameras and mobile video recorders enhance evidence collection at traffic crash and crime scenes by capturing actions, conditions and statements in real time, which improves the preparation of reports and court testimony.
Additionally, video recordings provide opportunities to enhance the training of cadets and troopers. The upgraded mobile video recorders capture footage from a wider perspective, allowing for better coverage of the surrounding area. In contrast, the previous dash-mounted cameras used by State Police for the past two decades only captured a limited view directly in front of the patrol vehicle.
Milestone hit in construction of PSP Academy The Pennsylvania State Police and Department of General Services (DGS) recently celebrated a milestone in the modernization of PSP's 65-year-old training facilities. A "topping out" ceremony marked the placement of the final steel beam atop the structural frame of the Marquee Building, the centerpiece of the new Pennsylvania State Police Academy. Construction is on time and on budget, the PSP said.
The event celebrated significant progress in a $387.8M construction project that invests in safer communities by creating state-of-the-art facilities for training state troopers and attracting recruits. "Every step of this project brings us closer to providing our cadets with a world-class training facility that meets all their needs for success," Paris said.
"The Pennsylvania State Police Academy is the nation's best police academy, producing our country's finest law enforcement officers. These new facilities ensure we continue to attract recruits of the highest caliber and prepare them for 21st-century policing in the best possible environment." "Today is an important milestone in the construction of the new PSP Academy," DGS Secretary Reggie McNeil said.
"The placement of this final steel beam signifies not only the culmination of extensive planning and precision engineering, but an enduring commitment to the highest standards of public safety and law enforcement training." State Police command staff signed the topping-out beam and thanked the construction crews who worked through summer heat and winter cold to keep the project on schedule, connecting more than 1,900 tons of steel to support the walls and floors of the approximately 250,000-square-foot building since the groundbreaking in December 2023. When completed, the five-story building overlooking Hersheypark Drive will house the Academy's classrooms and administrative offices, 300 individual cadet dormitories, a 500-seat auditorium and a large cafeteria.
Bill to support small businesses, veterans' organizations Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Williamsport, this week reintroduced a bill to support small businesses and veterans' organizations who rely on skill games and protect them from devastating higher taxes. The supplemental income from the games, which they depend on to help pay their staff, pay their bills and maintain their establishments and pay for donations to help their communities is at risk, Yaw said.
"There is broad recognition of the need to regulate skill games," Yaw said. "But if we set the tax rate too high, we're not regulating — we're eliminating. Other proposals are being introduced that could drive skill games out of business entirely.
Without them, so many of the small businesses, veterans' organizations, fraternal clubs, and taverns they support cannot, and will not, survive. I choose to support the economic backbone of Pennsylvania — our small businesses — over the corporate conglomerates." Senate Bill 626 implements a 16% tax rate for those who operate skill games.
Yaw said this is both fair and affordable for organizations that can't afford tax rates proposed in other bills, which are as high as 52% and mirror those paid by multi-billion-dollar casino operations. Regulatory framework included in the bill requires games to be connected to a terminal collection and control system that allows the commonwealth to monitor all transactions and ensure all taxes are accrued and paid. Additionally, the legislation will strengthen penalties for those who operate unlicensed and illegal games and gambling devices.
It also includes a valid ID requirement to play, a limit on the number of machines per establishment and requires games only exist as a secondary source of revenue for the establishment. Free PTRR filing assistance available Employees from the Department of Revenue (DOR) will continue visiting senior and community centers across Pennsylvania in the coming weeks to offer in-person filing support for the Property Tax/Rent Rebate (PTRR) program and Pennsylvania personal income tax returns (PA-40s). DOR's work to provide in-person filing support on PTRR applications is especially important following Gov.
Josh Shapiro's work to secure bipartisan support for a historic expansion of the PTRR program. The expansion resulted in the program's income limits and maximum rebate both being raised for the first time in nearly 20 years. "Our goal is to meet eligible applicants where they are to help deliver the critical relief that the PTRR program provides each year for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians," said Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne.
"Under Gov. Shapiro's leadership, we are working on several fronts to ensure this program reaches as many eligible Pennsylvanians as possible. An important part of those efforts is working with community organizations across the Commonwealth to visit locations where we can make a real difference.
" An event list by county is available on the DOR website. Customers are encouraged to call their preferred location ahead of time to verify availability and make an appointment. In 2024, the PTRR program delivered more than 522,000 rebates totaling $319 million to eligible Pennsylvanians.
This included roughly 106,000 first-time filers who received a rebate for the very first time. So far this year, DOR has received roughly 300,000 PTRR applications. Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
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