Gov. Josh Shapiro is trying to rally support behind his idea to give newly-certified police officers a $2,500 state tax credit.
The bid is one of several the freshman governor is proposing to shore up job vacancies at departments across Pennsylvania. The Associated Press reports a survey of one-third of the state’s law enforcement agencies found they were short almost 1,200 officers last year.
Shapiro traveled to Mercyhurst University in Erie Thursday to pitch the tax credit idea. That school houses a municipal police academy program, which regularly supplies new officers to the Erie Police Department, headed by Chief Dan Spizarny.
“Erie has a complement of 194 sworn officers. Right now, we’re down approximately 15,” Spizarny told a press conference. “We’re extremely concerned with what the future holds.”
At one time, Spizarny said his agency was vetting hundreds of eager candidates for its policing jobs. Over the last three years, that’s changed rapidly: the candidate pool shrank from 90 to 45.
“I personally believe that we may have only 30-some candidates by next year’s list,” Spizarny said. “We’re reaching a critical time. We’re concerned and we need help.”
Shapiro said the tax credit idea would help solve staffing problems like those in Erie. As long as someone gets certified as a police officer, they’ll be eligible for a $2,500 per year tax credit for up to three years.
“We want to send a strong message to every single person across Pennsylvania that we believe policing is a noble profession and we want to invest in it,” the governor said.
The tax credit would also extend to newly-certified teachers and nurses, professionals in industries that are also facing staffing shortages. Altogether, his office estimates lawmakers would need to set aside $25 million to pay for the credit this year.
When asked whether the incentive would be enough to recruit more police cadets, Shapiro added investments in training, county mental health agencies, and 911 call centers would help ease officer burnout rates. Among other things, Shapiro’s $44 billion budget proposal would set aside $16.4 million for the Pennsylvania State Police to train 384 new troopers.
“A lot more is being asked of police officers today than ever before. We recognize that, which is why we want to have this high level of training and why we want to make sure that there are enough people to do this important work that you need to do,” Shapiro told a class of police cadets that had gathered to hear Wednesday’s remarks.
State lawmakers have not yet shared whether they support ideas like the tax credit. The Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate are in the midst of budget talks with various state agencies, and will almost certainly negotiate the details of such a tax credit proposal before the next state budget is due on June 30.
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