Yes really. I know guys that work there and this was in the Trib.
It might not be quite soon enough to hit the gas.
But if a Kilbuck supervisor has his way, police in a township famed for its speed trap will be disbanded or merged with neighboring Ohio Township police.Supervisor Russell Hardiman said Kilbuck stands to save $120,000 a year if the police force is eliminated.
Supervisor Jim Pool, however, opposes the plan, and supervisors Chairman Dave Blackson said he’s undecided.
But the idea has plenty of backers.
“Good,” KDKA Radio morning talk-show host Mike Pintek said Wednesday when told of Hardiman’s proposal.Pintek has railed against Kilbuck police for more than a decade.
“I stay out of Kilbuck as much as I can, and I have other people drive if I have to go through it,” he said.
For years, Pittsburgh-area residents have sounded off to Pintek about Kilbuck police, telling tales of being ticketed for having faded license plates, license-plate frames covering the word Pennsylvania or decals in the back window.
“That police department has a bad black eye because it is one of the worst speed traps,” Pintek said. “And it’s all about getting money.”
Revenue from traffic citations has dried up over the past several years – to just under $31,000 last year, compared to nearly $45,000 in 1999.
Kilbuck has slashed traffic citations in half – from 4,000 to 5,000 annually a decade ago to about 2,000 last year, said police Chief Randy Elllison.
Township officials say catching speeders is less emphasized now than in the past. And they insist it never was about money.
“Patrols started in the early 1990s after a rash of fatal accidents along Route 65,” Hardiman said. “And Route 65 should be patrolled. We cannot have people entering Emsworth going 55 mph.”
Hardiman said he simply is looking for ways to cut costs. He said the idea of disbanding the police has nothing to do with declining revenue from tickets.
“This is about lower taxes, and that is what we are elected to do,” he said.
Some residents said they don’t mind the township’s speed-trap reputation.
“I am not necessarily against a speed trap if they using it to stop DUIs on Ohio River Boulevard,” Kilbuck resident Marilyn Simon said. “I think the police are wrongly criticized.”
Supervisor Pool said he fears the elimination of the police force could be a step toward eliminating the tiny township itself.
“I will not let this township be dissolved,” Pool said of Kilbuck.
Kilbuck has a population of 723. Its tax rate is 6.5 mills, compared to 2.5 mills in neighboring Ohio Township.
Maintaining the police force of three full-time officers and seven part-timers costs the township about $180,000 a year.
Not much bang for the buck, said Hardiman.
Nearby Sewickley Hills pays $58,000 annually for police protection from Ohio Township. Ben Avon pays $140,000 annually for police protection from Kilbuck. Ben Avon has more than twice the population of Kilbuck.
Kilbuck is one of hundreds of locations listed on speedtrap.org – a Web site run by the National Motorists Association of Waunakee, Wis. The group has fought for the repeal of the national 55-mph speed limit.