|
Senate Approves Robbins Resolution Celebrating
100th Anniversary of State Police
HARRISBURG -- The
state Senate today approved a resolution sponsored by Senator Bob Robbins (R-50)
congratulating the Pennsylvania State Police on its 100th anniversary.
The Pennsylvania State
Police became the nation’s first uniformed police organization of its kind with
the enactment of legislation on May 2nd, 1905.
Robbins noted that the State
Police was born out of the coal strikes, when it became clear that the
Commonwealth needed trained, public officers to keep peace and order -- not
security forces hired by private companies.
Their early years focused on
Criminal Identification, Fire Investigations and -- to deal with the growing
popularity of automobiles--the Highway Patrol. Later would come Aviation
Divisions, Criminal Laboratory Divisions, Drug Interdiction and the Bureau of
Liquor Control Enforcement. More recently, the State Police have been given the
responsibility of forming the front line of the Commonwealth’s homeland
security.
“Pennsylvania State Troopers
have answered the call to duty, day in and day out. Many smaller communities
without police departments look to State Police to perform primary patrol
duties,” said Robbins, speaking on the Senate floor.
The State Police became the
largest accredited police agency in the world in 1993 and today has a statewide
complement of more than 5,700 enlisted and civilian employees serving in a
variety of roles.
Since 1929, all State Police
have been required to memorize the “Call of Honor,” which reads, in part: “I am
a Pennsylvania State Trooper, a soldier of the law. To me is entrusted the
honor of the force. I must serve honestly, faithfully, and if need be, lay down
my life as others have done before me, rather than swerve from the path of
duty.”
“It is our duty in the
legislature to support our state troopers and recognize their vast contributions
-- the ones I mentioned today, and the many that occur every day with little or
no notice,” said Robbins.
 
Sen. Bob Robbins
Sen.
John Rafferty
The Senate marked the 100th anniversary of the
Pennsylvania State Police during a brief observation on April 6.
Pictured from left are
Lt. Colonel Ralph
Periandi, Sen. Bob Robbins, State Police Commissioner Jeff Miller, and
Captain William McHale.
# # #
|
