Burns asks governor to open state police substation in Johnstown
Cites high crime rate pegged to ‘huge transient public housing population’
Rep. Frank Burns June 13, 2024 | 9:30 AM
EBENSBURG, June 13 – Seeking additional resources to battle one of the highest crime rates in Pennsylvania, state Rep. Frank Burns has asked Gov. Josh Shapiro to establish a state police substation in Johnstown.
Burns, D-Cambria, outlined the pressing need in a letter to Shapiro, citing:
- A Johnstown law enforcement system “seriously strained” by a “massive influx of low-income, transient public housing residents,” coming largely from Philadelphia.
- The 1-in-24 chance one has of being the victim of a violent or property crime in Johnstown.
- The staffing shortage at the Johnstown Police Department, which as of last fall had 31 active-duty officers – 10 short of the 41 budgeted.
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“As the City of Johnstown struggles under the weight of a devastating mix of poverty and crime, fueled by a huge transient public housing population coming largely from Philadelphia, I am asking for your help to bring things under control by establishing a State Police Substation in the city.” – Rep. Frank Burns, to Governor Josh Shapiro.
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“Everyone who lives here and is a law abiding citizen can attest to how bad the situation has become. It is no coincidence – nor was it a big surprise to us – that after a prisoner escaped from and eluded police in Philadelphia in February, a Fugitive Task Force found and arrested him in Johnstown, 200 miles away,” Burns wrote.
“As the City of Johnstown struggles under the weight of a devastating mix of poverty and crime, fueled by a huge transient public housing population coming largely from Philadelphia, I am asking for your help to bring things under control by establishing a State Police Substation in the city.”
Burns also noted that Johnstown’s relative surplus of public housing being filled by low-income transients is also “one of the main suspected drivers” of the city’s 38.7% poverty rate, which is more than three times the state average.
“By immersing myself in Johnstown’s neighborhoods and listening to people who live with and fear the crime problem, I know they would appreciate and feel safer with a State Police substation in the city,” Burns concluded.