| State Police of Crawford and Erie Counties | |
| A commemorative cemetery marker with the emblem of the State Police of Crawford and Erie Counties | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | April 3, 1872 |
| Dissolved | June 30, 2005 |
| Volunteers | 4,000 at peak, 220 at disbandment |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of Pennsylvania, USA |
| Map of State Police of Crawford and Erie Counties's jurisdiction. | |
| Size | 2,596 square miles (6,720 km2) |
| Population | 299,209 (2000) |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The State Police of Crawford and Erie Counties was a volunteer organization providing police service in northwest Pennsylvania, not to be confused with the unaffiliated Pennsylvania State Police. It was disbanded in 2005, after the Pennsylvania General Assembly revoked its authority.
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The group was founded on April 3, 1872, under the name 'State Police of Crawford and Erie Counties' to recover stolen horses and detect thieves[1] As there was no police presence in northwest Pennsylvania, the state legislature passed a law that year giving the posse full police powers.
At its heyday, in the 1940s, the State Police of Crawford and Erie Counties had more than 4,000 members. But its ranks dwindled, and the group's duties were eventually relegated largely to crowd and traffic control at local events. Members could still carry firearms and make arrests, though many chose to simply detain suspects until the police arrived.
Membership in the State Police of Crawford and Erie Counties was solely decided by a three-fourths vote of its members. No training was required, though it was provided by many of the group's senior members.
In 2005, the Pennsylvania State Police, concerned that people would mistake the volunteer group as the actual state police, convinced the state legislature to repeal the 1872 law. The group has largely disbanded, though a few members are seeking ways to keep the group active.