BCT Editorial – 1/28/09

This page was last updated on January 28, 2009.

Police action; Editorial; Beaver County Times; January 28, 2009.

The editorial subtitle is “Make freeloading municipalities pay for coverage by troopers.”

I believe the position advocated in this editorial is correct. The reason for the critique is to show the Times’ inconsistency when it comes to identifying “freeloaders” and “welfare queens.”

The editorial says “the best and fairest solution” would be “imposing a per capita fee on municipalities that rely on state police coverage instead of having their own department.” I agree.

Here’s my question. If charging communities for State Police coverage “the best and fairest solution,” and I believe it is, why shouldn’t BCTA and PAT riders and students attending state/state-related colleges pay their own way? In the Times’ eyes, apparently some freeloaders are more equal than others.

Here’s another question. Given the Times typical position, instead of labeling as freeloaders communities that don’t provide their own police protection, why isn’t it claiming communities that pay for their own police departments are victims of insufficient funding of the State Police?