Jan 10, 2018 3 min read

At some point in the last couple of years – maybe even in the last couple of days – a state lawmaker has railed about how agencies duplicate services and how there needs to be belt-tightening and greater efficiency in order to save taxpayer dollars.

Those are worthy, if commonplace, sentiments. But if they’re really serious about it, they need look no further than their own workplace to start such an endeavor.

Both the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives have their own security forces, which operate separately from the Capitol Police, more than 100 members of which keep watch over the entire Capitol Complex in Harrisburg. Unlike the Capitol Police, however, the security personnel being paid out of the House and Senate’s legislative accounts have no arrest power, no clear benchmarks for hiring or training and really no one to answer to. The Capitol Police, on the other hand, are held accountable by the Department of General Services, and their reports are a matter of public record. The security teams for the state House and Senate are not subject to similar answerability, and are paid out of legislative accounts.

The fact that the state House and Senate both field their own security forces has been a sore point among critics of how Harrisburg operates for a while. A Google search finds stories on it as far back as 2013. But the opprobrium has gained new life following revelations that the Senate’s security director, Justin Ferrante, was given his walking papers following allegations he sexually harassed subordinates. This time around, we can only hope the renewed attention leads lawmakers to finally act, and either disband their security teams or at least make their operations less opaque.

Eric Epstein, who leads the good-government group Rock the Capital, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “There are certain (security) metrics the public is entitled to know because the public is paying for it. We are not living in a state where you can say ‘just trust me.'”

Supporters of the security forces argue they are necessary if legislators and their staffs are to do their jobs in peace, and the Capitol Police need to focus their energies on securing the whole Capitol Complex. But why not just expand the Capitol Police if there are not enough officers to protect legislators and their staffs? Why is there a need for separate, independent security details?

Our state senators and representatives need look no further than Ohio, where the Ohio State Highway Patrol is the sole guardian of the state office buildings and the State Capitol. One agency also oversees security at the U.S. Capitol. Pennsylvania should follow suit.

Pennsylvania’s state government has long been characterized by its bloat, whether it’s an inordinate number of full-time. well-compensated legislators, or a lieutenant governor who has a household staff at his state-provided living quarters and, until recently, his own security detail. That’s gone hand in hand with a penchant for secrecy. The security forces of the state House and Senate are perhaps the quintessential representation of these long-festering problems.