Bloomsburg Press Enterprise

Currently in Pennsylvania, because of recent State Supreme Court rulings, my fully trained and state certified deputies are not permitted to investigate or make arrests for any crime they do not personally witness.
 
That means if anyone is assaulted, and he or she were to stop a uniformed deputy sheriff to report the crime, that deputy sheriff would not be permitted by law to investigate the assault or arrest the perpetrator. That seems like an illogical situation, and many of our state lawmakers agree.

In this post 9/11 world, all government agencies are making great efforts to work together to preserve peace. Excluding over 2,200 sheriffs and deputies from that effort to preserve peace in Pennsylvania makes us all more vulnerable, especially in our courthouses.
 
House Bill 466, introduced by Rep. Craig Dally of Northampton County and 41 co-sponsors, is intended to clarify and reaffirm the law enforcement authority sheriffs and deputies have had for hundreds of years.

The office of sheriff began almost 400 years ago in America. Sheriffs retained broad powers to keep the peace in their respective counties; however, the courts have been called upon to clarify the powers and authority of sheriffs no less than five times in the past 15 years.

In the most recent Supreme Court decision dealing with sheriffs (Commonwealth vs. Dobbins) the court determined sheriffs do not have the authority to investigate crimes unless those crimes happen in the presence of the sheriff. The court went on to say the issue of sheriffs' powers and authority should be handled legislatively.

House Bill 466, in part, specifically states "all sheriffs and all deputy sheriffs shall have and may exercise the same powers as municipal police officers." This wording is intended to allow the sheriff and commissioners to determine how this bill best suits the needs of their respective counties.

Here in Columbia County, with 16 police departments in addition to the State Police, there is no need for the role of the sheriffs office to change. Police assist us in locating and apprehending wanted persons and we assist them with transports and back-up when requested. The working relationship between the sheriff's office and these police departments is second to none, and I will strive to assure that this continues.

TIMOTHY T. CHAMBERLAIN
Sheriff of Columbia County