Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Transit Police

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SEPTA Transit Police
Established	1981
Sworn	260
Website	SEPTA Transit Police

SEPTA Transit Police is an American law enforcement agency which is responsible for policing the mass transit system that is operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the adjacent suburban counties of Delaware; Montgomery; Chester; and Bucks counties in Pennsylvania. SEPTA also operates transit routes that extend into the states of New Jersey and Delaware. The SEPTA Transit Police Department was created in 1981 by the Pennsylvania General Assembly (the state legislature) to more adequately deal with crimes occurring on and around its property. Although the Philadelphia Police Department maintained a transit unit with officers assigned to patrol in the subway concourses, these officers were primarily located in the center city (downtown) area. It was determined that by creating its own dedicated police force, SEPTA would be able to directly deal with rising crime throughout its system. Another reason it was determined that SEPTA needed its own police force was that the portable radios that the city's officers used did not operate properly in the subway tunnels. Because of this, they could not be depended on if an officer had to chase a suspect through the tunnel area, or otherwise needed assistance. This problem still exists today, although recent efforts have been made to address the issue.

SEPTA Transit Police officers attend the Philadelphia Police Academy, and receive the same training as their municipal counterparts. They are armed, and exercise the same authority as a Philadelphia Police officer while on or around SEPTA property, and elsewhere in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania while in the pursuit of official transportation authority business. The SEPTA police department has been able to reduce serious crime on its system by over 90 percent, since 1990, when it implemented a zone policing strategy, where officers are assigned to specific 'zones' throughout the subway system.

[edit] External links

• SEPTA Transit Police

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