Posted: | January 29, 2021 10:35 AM |
---|---|
From: | Senator Lisa Baker |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Qualifications |
Please join me in co-sponsoring legislation placing in statute the necessary qualifications for the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner and any deputy, and updating other language in the Act. This legislation would require that any Commissioner possess ten years of law enforcement service, with at least five years in a supervisory role, with either the Pennsylvania State Police, a police department requiring certification by the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission (MPOETC), a federal law enforcement agency, or an agency in another state that requires comparable qualifications. The bill would also require any Commissioner to have proper training prior to being authorized for access to CHRIA, the Criminal History Record Information Act. CHRIA was passed in 1980 to provide an orderly collection and dissemination of criminal history and protected information in the Commonwealth. Currently, CHRIA places an obligation on criminal justice agencies to train anyone who will be authorized to access criminal history record information. Placing these qualifications in statute will ensure that a Commissioner nominee has both the appropriate firearms training and knowledge of the applicable federal and state laws and regulations related to the privacy and security of criminal history information prior to leading this premier law enforcement agency. This bill was introduced last session as Senate Bill 346 and was co-sponsored by Senators Bartolotta, Gordner and Mensch. Thank you for your consideration. |
Introduced as SB462