aGameOfThrones
10-18-2014, 11:10 PM
Eric Frein manhunt wipes out many a speeding ticket
Curtis Gibbs of Allentown got a break this month when he went to court for allegedly slapping state Trooper Joe Bushta's horse during Musikfest.
And state court records show the manhunt, now in its sixth week, appears to have had a significant impact on the agency's day-to-day law (theft) enforcement and public safety work(lol). The 57,884 traffic tickets, summary offense citations and criminal cases filed by Pennsylvania State Police in September are 15 percent less than the 68,306 a year before — and fewer than in any of the last five Septembers.
The number of just the traffic tickets issued by state police in September, which included the first 18 days of the search, dropped 22 percent statewide compared with September 2013, according to data obtained by The Morning Call from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. It also is the fewest tickets in September for any of the last five years.
Non-traffic summary offenses, which include misconduct such as harassment, criminal mischief and public drunkenness, dropped by 16 percent in September compared with a year earlier, the data show.
Only criminal offenses, which include violent crimes, sex crimes, property crimes and other misdemeanors and felonies, kept pace with the year before, climbing nearly 7 percent across the state last month, according to the data.
The double-digit declines in traffic tickets and summary offenses filed in September are by far the largest in the last five years, when state police court filings have — for the most part — increased. The data include filings by state police in district court, where all charges are initially filed. It does not include data for Philadelphia, which has a separate municipal court system and where state police activity is minimal.
No one is suggesting that Pennsylvanians have suddenly become more law-abiding citizens who speed, get drunk or harass their neighbors less than they did last September. A more likely reason is that there are fewer police officers on the street because hundreds of troopers from counties across the state are scouring the wilderness in the Pocono Mountains for Frein.
Since mid-September, more than 300 state police officers from across Pennsylvania have been working in 12-hour shifts, around the clock, combing a 5-square-mile area near the northern Monroe County home where Frein lived with his parents.
The decrease in the number of traffic tickets and other citations and charges also might add to the cost of the manhunt through a decline in revenue for the state, counties and municipalities, which share fines and court fees.
In 2013, Pennsylvania district courts and county courts collected $417 million in fines and fees from traffic tickets, summary offenses and criminal cases initiated by all law enforcement agencies. The amount generated by cases initiated by the state police was not available.
"We're monitoring the costs of this, but to this point the state police have not asked for additional money. If that changes, and more funds are needed, we'll deal with it as the need arises," said Jay Pagni, spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett. "The main goal is to catch this bad guy and do it in an expeditious and successful manner."
Although state police court filings increased in some counties, declines were recorded in counties from Erie County in the northwest corner of the state to Bucks County in the southeast.
In Monroe County, where police believe Frein is using the densely wooded Poconos for cover, court filings decreased 32 percent compared with the previous September. They also dropped in each of Monroe's six immediate neighbors: by 9 percent in Carbon County; 24 percent in Lackawanna; 43 percent in Luzerne; 30 percent in Northampton; 24 percent in Pike; and 47 percent in Wayne.
The largest decline, 49 percent, was recorded in Montour County.
Retired state police Troop M Commander Ted Kohuth said while the Frein manhunt is a unique situation, it's not unusual for state police to divert massive segments of their resources away from their regular duties.
Each time, it pulled troopers away from other duties, but that doesn't mean the community was unprotected, Kohuth said.
"PSP has a long history of taking on these types of special details, and it can sometimes involve a lot of resources," Kohuth said. "It just means you have to prioritize. It tends to mean you do less DUI checkpoints and less radar enforcement. But you still fully investigate things like burglaries and domestic violence. Those types of criminal acts are not ignored or put off."
Finn said the diversion of state police resources doesn't mean that crimes will go un-investigated or unsolved. Any ongoing investigations will resume when officers return from the Frein search area, she said.
"It certainly doesn't mean they will be forgotten or abandoned," Finn said. "If charges are warranted, I'm sure they will be filed at some point."
Still, Gibbs can rest easy knowing his alleged horse-slapping won't be brought back. Summary charges, by law, cannot be refiled.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-eric-frein-police-citations-20141018-story.html#page=1
Curtis Gibbs of Allentown got a break this month when he went to court for allegedly slapping state Trooper Joe Bushta's horse during Musikfest.
And state court records show the manhunt, now in its sixth week, appears to have had a significant impact on the agency's day-to-day law (theft) enforcement and public safety work(lol). The 57,884 traffic tickets, summary offense citations and criminal cases filed by Pennsylvania State Police in September are 15 percent less than the 68,306 a year before — and fewer than in any of the last five Septembers.
The number of just the traffic tickets issued by state police in September, which included the first 18 days of the search, dropped 22 percent statewide compared with September 2013, according to data obtained by The Morning Call from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. It also is the fewest tickets in September for any of the last five years.
Non-traffic summary offenses, which include misconduct such as harassment, criminal mischief and public drunkenness, dropped by 16 percent in September compared with a year earlier, the data show.
Only criminal offenses, which include violent crimes, sex crimes, property crimes and other misdemeanors and felonies, kept pace with the year before, climbing nearly 7 percent across the state last month, according to the data.
The double-digit declines in traffic tickets and summary offenses filed in September are by far the largest in the last five years, when state police court filings have — for the most part — increased. The data include filings by state police in district court, where all charges are initially filed. It does not include data for Philadelphia, which has a separate municipal court system and where state police activity is minimal.
No one is suggesting that Pennsylvanians have suddenly become more law-abiding citizens who speed, get drunk or harass their neighbors less than they did last September. A more likely reason is that there are fewer police officers on the street because hundreds of troopers from counties across the state are scouring the wilderness in the Pocono Mountains for Frein.
Since mid-September, more than 300 state police officers from across Pennsylvania have been working in 12-hour shifts, around the clock, combing a 5-square-mile area near the northern Monroe County home where Frein lived with his parents.
The decrease in the number of traffic tickets and other citations and charges also might add to the cost of the manhunt through a decline in revenue for the state, counties and municipalities, which share fines and court fees.
In 2013, Pennsylvania district courts and county courts collected $417 million in fines and fees from traffic tickets, summary offenses and criminal cases initiated by all law enforcement agencies. The amount generated by cases initiated by the state police was not available.
"We're monitoring the costs of this, but to this point the state police have not asked for additional money. If that changes, and more funds are needed, we'll deal with it as the need arises," said Jay Pagni, spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett. "The main goal is to catch this bad guy and do it in an expeditious and successful manner."
Although state police court filings increased in some counties, declines were recorded in counties from Erie County in the northwest corner of the state to Bucks County in the southeast.
In Monroe County, where police believe Frein is using the densely wooded Poconos for cover, court filings decreased 32 percent compared with the previous September. They also dropped in each of Monroe's six immediate neighbors: by 9 percent in Carbon County; 24 percent in Lackawanna; 43 percent in Luzerne; 30 percent in Northampton; 24 percent in Pike; and 47 percent in Wayne.
The largest decline, 49 percent, was recorded in Montour County.
Retired state police Troop M Commander Ted Kohuth said while the Frein manhunt is a unique situation, it's not unusual for state police to divert massive segments of their resources away from their regular duties.
Each time, it pulled troopers away from other duties, but that doesn't mean the community was unprotected, Kohuth said.
"PSP has a long history of taking on these types of special details, and it can sometimes involve a lot of resources," Kohuth said. "It just means you have to prioritize. It tends to mean you do less DUI checkpoints and less radar enforcement. But you still fully investigate things like burglaries and domestic violence. Those types of criminal acts are not ignored or put off."
Finn said the diversion of state police resources doesn't mean that crimes will go un-investigated or unsolved. Any ongoing investigations will resume when officers return from the Frein search area, she said.
"It certainly doesn't mean they will be forgotten or abandoned," Finn said. "If charges are warranted, I'm sure they will be filed at some point."
Still, Gibbs can rest easy knowing his alleged horse-slapping won't be brought back. Summary charges, by law, cannot be refiled.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-eric-frein-police-citations-20141018-story.html#page=1