State police moves headquarters into new building
The new state police Troop B headquarters building in North Bethlehem Township.
Larger rooms with individual work stations are one feature of the newly completed state police Troop B headquarters.
Sgt. John Kean admires a sign in the new state police headquarters in North Bethlehem Township.
Steel benches bolted to the floor with handcuffs attached will allow troopers to monitor prisoners while doing paperwork before taking them for arraignment.
When the headquarters for Troop B opened on Murtland Avenue in Washington almost 70 years ago, it was a barracks where the enlisted officers stayed, with two bunks in each bedroom and a mess hall with three cooks preparing meals for the different shifts.
Troopers have not been required to stay overnight since the mid-1960s, and those bedrooms eventually were used as offices for troopers, criminal investigators, command personnel and support staff. While the outward appearance of the building has changed little over the decades, the needs of those working inside certainly have.
On Wednesday, the move was made to the new Troop B headquarters at 150 Route 519 in North Bethlehem Township. Work on the $6 million, 25,000-square-foot, two-story building started last year. Plans for the move to a new site began 15 years ago when Consol Energy, through its CNX Land Resources, donated 35 acres to the state Department of Transportation. PennDOT, which moved to the location nine years ago, allocated 10 acres to the state police. A procurement and supply building used for vehicle maintenance and storage was completed in 2013 but sat vacant until the move was made.
Sgt. John McKean, acting patrol section supervisor for the troop, was still acclimating himself to the new layout Thursday.
When visitors enter the spacious lobby, they will see the communications center that has room for three police communication operators. The PCOs sit behind security glass and can talk with visitors over a telephone on the wall to the right of the window.
The office for the patrol section corporal is just off the patrol room.
“The patrol section corporal ensures the troopers are doing what they need to do, so communication is the key,” McKean said. “Their old office was half this size.”
Each trooper has a work station in the patrol room. McKean said while troopers can do most of their reports while in the patrol car, the work can also be done at the stations. Each trooper also will have a file for paperwork.
Prisoners can be handcuffed to metal benches that are bolted to the floor, allowing the trooper to keep an eye on them while typing up a criminal complaint before taking them to the district judge, McKean said.
Also near the patrol room are offices for the two patrol sergeants, one who handles scheduling and the other who takes care of special projects. A processing room for collecting fingerprints and administering blood-alcohol tests is adjacent to the patrol room. On the wall is a gun safe so troopers can safely store their service weapons while processing a prisoner.
“The prisoner is generally uncuffed during the processing, so the trooper can secure their gun and not have to worry about the prisoner trying to grab it,” McKean said.
There is also a separate storage area for the trooper’s gear that contains special items, including helmets that may be needed for a special event such as a presidential visit.
There is a garage bay inside the building, where troopers pull their patrol vehicles inside to check it before the start of the shift during inclement weather, McKean said. It also provides a safer way to bring a prisoner into the station.
McKean said the locker rooms for the troopers is a vast improvement from the previous station and there is also a fitness room.
The new evidence room will allow all evidence to be kept in one place.
“It is state-of-the-art,” McKean said. “A trooper can tell who is in charge of the evidence with a property number and they don’t have to figure out what room it may be in.”
On the second floor are offices for criminal investigators, with each trooper having a cubicle, and a conference room. There are also offices for special units, such as computer crimes, the fire marshal and vice.
McKean’s office, as well as those of other supervisors and the troop captain, are also on the second floor. Maj. William Tepper, who oversees the operations of Troop B, Troop E in Erie and Troop D in Butler, will have his office in the new building.
A classroom with a large state police seal on the wall can also be used for news conferences. There is also a large, secure lot on the site for impounded vehicles.
The main telephone number remains 724-223-5200.