Does Lehigh County have Sheriffs ?

I was wondering how PA is set up. Here in NY, there are state police, then there are county sheriffs that cover the entire county, and then there are local police in the towns.

For the counties, I don't see any listing for Sheriffs, and the Townships I don't see any listing there either, but I am sure I have seen Township police in some areas around Lehigh and Bucks county.

Can anyone tell me how they are set up there, and if they are all on the Open Sky or not ?

Thanks

Bill
KC2OVX

Sheriffs in PA dont do countywide law enforcement like some other states. Their main function is part of the judicial system to transport / house prisoners. Enforce court orders.

In areas where a local police force is not provided or the local government does not have a contract with a neighboring department to provide services then the jurisdiction falls on PA State Police to cover.

copied from lehigh county sheriff website,
The Office of the Sheriff serves all original civil, criminal and protection from abuse documents issued by the Court of Common Pleas. The office also provides security for the County's courtrooms, judges and buildings. The Sheriff's Office transports prisoners, holds sales to collect debts on both real and personal property, investigates and apprehends fugitives and bail jumpers and preserves the peace at riots and civil strike injunctions.

In addition, the Sheriff's Office issues permits to carry a concealed weapon within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. These permits are issued only after an appropriate background investigation is completed.


Frank

When can I find the freq used by the sheriff's ?

For Lehigh County, I am pretty sure Upper Saucon Township has a police dept.

I actually think their barracks are right near where 309 and 78 come together, but I can't find any listing for them or for sheriffs in Lehigh County.

I am thinking they all might be on the Open Sky, but Northampton Township has their own repeaters in the 500 Mhz band, so I would think that Saucon should have their own as well.

If they do, it is not listed here.

Thanks again

Bill
KC2OVX

Lehigh County Sheriffs Office is on 155.805 PL186.2 They are the # 3800 series units

3825 to Lehigh County etc..

They mostly chat often during the day.

Lehigh County mostly sheriff transport prisoners for court, serve papers, courthouse and government building details such as security.

not all communities in Lehigh County have private police in those jurisdictions as stated its State Police coverage. Lehigh County Police is mostly MDT (Mobile Data Terminal Dispatching) but they are on the radio often
158.8350 PL1862. Police South
Coopersburg, Upper Saucon, Emmaus, Upper Macungie, Alburtis, Macungie, Fountain Hill,
158.8500 PL186.2 Police North
Whitehall Township (mall), Catasauqua, Coplay, Slatington, South Whitehall, Walnutport, LV Airport Police, Coroners Office,
155.8050 PL186.2 Police F-5
Sheriff, Probation, Domestics, Constables, EMA and few others
460.0750 PL146.2
Courthouse Sheriffs

May have missed a few but hope you get the idea, if you need any more information feel free to message , worked Lehigh County for many years and know the system well with exception few updates they did.

Thanks

This helps a lot. I have seen Township police along 309 from Coopersburg to 78, and I think they say Saucon Township, but it has been many years since I was down there.

Is there a Upper Saucon Township police dept or do they use the sheriff freq as well ?


Thanks again

Bill

radicalbill said:

This helps a lot. I have seen Township police along 309 from Coopersburg to 78, and I think they say Saucon Township, but it has been many years since I was down there.

Is there a Upper Saucon Township police dept or do they use the sheriff freq as well ?


Thanks again

Bill

Click to expand...

Steve mentioned in his reply that Upper Saucon PD is on Police South. They most likely have the frequency the sheriff's office uses in their radios should they need to contact them. All law enforcement in Lehigh County with the exception of State Police and the Cities of Allentown and Bethlehem are on the VHF frequencies Steve mentioned. Allentown is 800 MHz EDACS (using Pro Voice encrypted TG's though) and Bethlehem is 800 MHz P25 Phase 1.

In most northeast states the Sheriff as mentioned previously does not provide primary law enforcement services but is mainly an agent of the county court.

Thanks again

Here in NY, the Sheriff is the primary go to agency that gets all the calls.

We also have 911 dispatch that both the Sheriff and NYSP respond to calls for.

I understand that PA and most other places do not have it setup like this.


I also am trying to wrap my head around the townships, which are not cities or counties, but more like territories that are overseen by Township police.

Very confusing for someone not familiar with the setup.

Bill

In the last year many townships organized regional departments you may see multiple townships with one department also in the last year many have fallen and went back to just primary township coverage often depending on municipality funding is the big thing.

Do the EMS and Fire use 2 tones pagers ?

Up here, in NY, they use 2 tone moto pagers for the entire county and everyone has separate tones for each dept. Do they do the same in the Lehigh Valley area ?

I see the dispatch freq. I am thinking that would be where they would tone out ?

Up here, I was able to make a list of almost all our depts, about 100 of them and the tones they use.

Does anyone have a list like that for the Lehigh Valley ?

Thanks

Bill

radicalbill said:

Here in NY, the Sheriff is the primary go to agency that gets all the calls.

We also have 911 dispatch that both the Sheriff and NYSP respond to calls for.

I understand that PA and most other places do not have it setup like this.


I also am trying to wrap my head around the townships, which are not cities or counties, but more like territories that are overseen by Township police.

Very confusing for someone not familiar with the setup.

Bill

Click to expand...

Pennsylvania is a commonwealth form of government. Unlike some other states, there is no unincorporated land that is simply XYZ County. Governing is done at the local level. There are over 2,500* municipal governments in PA. Every county, with the exception of Philadelphia, is subdivided into townships, boroughs, and cities. The "type" of local government determines the governing structure (i.e. mayor, council, etc). To further complicate matters, some of these local governments actually straddle two different counties. For instance, the City of Bethlehem exists in both Lehigh and Northampton counties. Philadelphia is both a city and a county as a result of a merger process in mid 1800's where the individual townships and boroughs in the county were all merged together with the county government. This is why there is a city police department and also a sheriff's office for Philly.

List of municipalities in Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you are not totally confused, yet, you can drive around the state and see little blue and white signs erected by PennDOT indicating when you are entering a particular county and municipality. But, those same signs may also state "Village of XXX". There is no village designation for a local government in PA. This term simply designates a particular section of a township that has some historical name associated with it. These names are typically associated with a census designated place. When you add in zip codes and the associated names, you end up with a huge list of place names that do not necessarily indicate an official local government.

I often encounter people through my day job who don't understand where they actually live (i.e. which municipality). They will tell me a name (usually the one associated with their zip code) and then get confused or argumentative when I say, "Oh, you live in XXX Township."

The 2500 estimate is just local governments below the county level. There are 67 counties and 501 school districts in the state, as well as several thousand "municipal authorities" which is another local government classification (like XYZ Sewer Authority). An authority is someting that would exist concurrently with local municipalities to serve a specific purpose (i.e. running the sewer system serving one or more local governments).

radicalbill said:

Here in NY, the Sheriff is the primary go to agency that gets all the calls.

We also have 911 dispatch that both the Sheriff and NYSP respond to calls for.

I understand that PA and most other places do not have it setup like this.


I also am trying to wrap my head around the townships, which are not cities or counties, but more like territories that are overseen by Township police.

Very confusing for someone not familiar with the setup.

Bill

Click to expand...

Yeah, up there in NY, the sheriff departments serve as county police departments; they are the cops. Here in PA, they're law enforcement but not really true cops. They perform court work and stuff like that, sometimes in conjunction with constables too. They don't really do general police work.

mlmummert said:

Yeah, up there in NY, the sheriff departments serve as county police departments; they are the cops. Here in PA, they're law enforcement but not really true cops. They perform court work and stuff like that, sometimes in conjunction with constables too. They don't really do general police work.

Click to expand...

In some areas of the state the Sheriff's Dept. does provide specialized services. For example, in Montgomery County they operate the county bomb squad.

Montgomery County has also utilized deputies to do supplemental patrol work in certain areas (i.e. foot patrols in Norristown near the courthouse and SEPTA's Norristown Transportation Center).

benrussellpa said:

In some areas of the state the Sheriff's Dept. does provide specialized services. For example, in Montgomery County they operate the county bomb squad.

Click to expand...

The same here in Pike County

Likewise I encounter people who don't understand where they actually live; most often with transplants of which most seem to be (me included). The "Village" signs are a great example of what I found confusing when I move here about 10 yrs ago.

Lehigh County is very different we actually have a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) that responds to all bomb type threats operated by its own department.

Yes Pennsylvania is very confusing state for those who are transplants although living here all my life there are some things dont understand still.

benrussellpa said:

~snip~

When you add in zip codes and the associated names, you end up with a huge list of place names that do not necessarily indicate an official local government.

I often encounter people through my day job who don't understand where they actually live (i.e. which municipality). They will tell me a name (usually the one associated with their zip code) and then get confused or argumentative when I say, "Oh, you live in XXX Township."

~snip~

Click to expand...

Been there done that. I'm part of a facebook 'can you guess where this is (in the local county) page' and people are often confusing postal addresses for actual townships, to the point of arguing.

Here in Delaware County, PA there is a postal designation called 'Media", it's one of the largest area-wise in the county, however the actual municipality of Media Borough is very small. The postal area called Media encompasses all or some of Media Borough, Upper Providence Twp., Nether Providence Twp, and Middletown Twp.

I live in Upper Darby Twp. my mailing address is Lansdowne. There is a Lansdowne Borough but I'm not in it, I pay my taxes to Upper Darby. In fact the Lansdowne Post Office sits in Upper Darby Twp, across the street from Lansdowne Borough.

To add to the confusion, some counties have a county police department, not part of the sheriff's department. Delaware County has one:

Delaware County Courthouse and Park Police, responsible for providing protection for all county owned and or leased property and equipment. In addition, they are charged with providing physical protection to ensure a safe environment, not only for county employees but for all persons utilizing county services and facilities.

Click to expand...

Allegheny County too:

Allegheny County Police Department The Allegheny County Police Department is a Police Department with county-wide authority, provides law enforcement on County property. The ACPD patrols the Pittsburgh International Airport, the Allegheny County Airport, and county-owned properties and parks, including North Park and South Park. The County Police provides assistance to local police from the 130 municipalities and other law enforcement in Allegheny County, with a Detective Division including General Investigations, Homicide and Narcotics units. The Allegheny County Police Department was established in 1932 by an act of the Allegheny County Board of Commissioners and the Pennsylvania Legislature. It investigates all criminal activity which occurs on county-owned property, and provides assistance to local police departments and criminal justice agencies, usually in the form of manpower or specialized services. It is staffed by more than 239 sworn officers and 50 civilians.

Click to expand...

To say that PA law enforcement services can be confusing is an understatement.

Working in Law Enforcement its still amazes me on how many agencies have there own investigation department and actually law enforcement agents.. Many that do not use radios unless something big goes down.