A look at where state police coverage is heaviest, by county

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In Pennsylvania, 1,287 of the state's 2,561 municipalities, or half, have no police coverage and police services from the state police are free to local taxpayers. Another 413 municipalities get free part-time coverage. The remaining 861 pay for their own or share. Overall, one-quarter of Pennsylvanians receive some sort of police coverage from the state police. ___ THE FREE POLICE TOWNS The state police told legislative researchers that free local police service cost $540 million in 2012. On average, the municipalities that get full- or part-time police protection have just under 2,000 residents, or about three-quarters the population of the average municipality, and they are 21 square-miles, or about 25 percent larger than the average municipality, according to an Associated Press analysis of state data. With 43,000 residents, the 76-square-mile Hempfield Township in Westmoreland County is by far the most populous municipality that gets full-time, free state police coverage. It is Pennsylvania's 38th biggest municipality by land area. Second most populous is the 22-square-mile Lower Macungie Township in Lehigh County, with 30,000 residents, followed by the 23,000-resident Unity Township, which covers 67 square-miles in Westmoreland County. Two dozen more municipalities that get free police service have at least 10,000 residents, most of them in the southern half of Pennsylvania. ___ THE PAID POLICE TOWNS The municipalities that finance their own police forces likely pay more than $2 billion a year for the service. Pennsylvania's 20 most populated municipalities all pay for their own police forces, while the vast majority of the state's municipalities that have more than 10,000 residents — 225 out of 252 — receive no free state police service. Philadelphians alone are footing a $650 million bill this year for police, while Pittsburghers are paying about $93 million this year. One-third or more of the population lives below the poverty line in some of the municipalities that finance their own forces. ___ THE COUNTIES Two big suburban counties — Chester, outside Philadelphia, and Westmoreland, outside Pittsburgh — are home to the most residents who get free full-time or part-time state police coverage, about 157,000 residents in Chester and 149,000 in Westmoreland. Eight counties are 100 percent covered by the state police: Cameron, Forest, Fulton, Juniata, Potter, Sullivan, Susquehanna and Wyoming. Coverage is light in Pennsylvania's five most populous counties — Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, Bucks and Delaware — where fewer than 10 percent of residents are covered, including none in Philadelphia and practically none in Allegheny County. Thirty-five counties, many of them sparsely populated, have at least half of their residents getting free or part-time state police coverage, predominantly in western and northern Pennsylvania. Butler, Franklin and Schuylkill counties, are among those 35, but are in the top-third in population. Wealthier counties tend to have fewer residents covered. Butler and Montour are the most notable outliers. Butler is fifth in average household income and is 50 percent covered, while Montour is sixth in average household income and is 71 percent covered. On the other end of the spectrum, Mifflin and Northumberland counties are in the bottom eight in income, but state police coverage in those counties is below 40 percent. Philadelphia, at 34th in income, completely finances its own police force. Allegheny County, where a tiny fraction of residents are covered, is seventh in income. Average crime rates vary in places where state police coverage is heavy. Crimes rates tend to be lower than average in counties where a higher percentage of the population is covered by the state police. But crime rates tend to be higher than average in counties where a greater number of residents are covered by the state police. ___ Source: Associated Press analysis of Pennsylvania state data

A look at who gets free Pennsylvania State Police service