HARRISBURG, December 21, 2012 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today attended ceremonies honoring a class of  “There is something incredibly inspiring about being in the presence of young men and women about to embark on a career of public service that requires such dedication and sacrifice,” she said. “It’s an honor to watch.”

While attrition had created hundreds of State Police vacancies, lean recessionary budget years provided little or no funding for new cadet classes, Tartaglione said.   However, after more than three years of effort, Tartaglione’s bill to raise revenue training classes while creating a fairer fine-distribution system passed the legislature and was signed into law last summer.

Senate Bill 237 will raise as much as $4 million for cadet training, while municipalities that provide less than 40 hours of local police coverage will lose their share of fines collected through State Police traffic stops.

“It’s clear from the recent events in Connecticut that investing in the future of our State Police is critical to public safety and the quality of life in Pennsylvania,” Tartaglione said. “We were not training enough new troopers to keep up with the need and at the same time some large municipalities were taking advantage of State Police.  That hurt all of us.”

The cadet class was the 134th class to graduate from the State Police Academy in Hershey since it opened in 1960.