Ó2006-2008 SWRPD.  All Rights Reserved.

Southwest Regional Police Officers stop motor vehicles for a variety of reasons:

If you are stopped by an unmarked vehicle and are not sure it is a legitimate police officer, please do the following:

A warning generally does not involve a fine or penalty. Warnings are to gain voluntary compliance with the traffic laws of the state.  Types of warnings consist of a verbal warning (no paperwork given to you for the violation), and a written warning, which is generally issued on an official Police Warning card.  SWRPD officers can issue either type of warning for violations such as speeding, failure to stop at stop signs, traffic lights, failure to use turn signals and careless driving to name a few.  Other violations, including no driver's license, registration or insurance cards present at the time of stop, broken equipment on your vehicle, expired inspection, license or registration, may require at the officers request that you correct the problem or show valid proof of correction or documentation within a certain amout of time, usually 5 days.  Check the warning card carefully and ask the officer if there is anything that needs to be corrected and do the following:

There are two types of citations in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  A citation is used by an officer when a summary offense is committed, the lowest level of offense in the Commonwealth.  Citations can be issued to a person directly by an officer hand-to-hand, or mailed to you.  The first is called a Traffic Citation, which is issued by an officer to a person for violating any summary level traffic laws of the Commonwealth.  The second is called a Non-Traffic Citation, which is issued by an officer to a person for violating various summary level offenses such as disorderly conduct, public drunkeness, underage drinking, criminal mischief, etc.  Although a summary level offense is the lowest level offense, it can carry with it serious consequences, up to a $300.00 per offense and up to 90 days in prison and loss of drivers privileges for non-traffic violations, and up to thousands of dollars in fines and loss of driving privileges for traffic violations.  If you receive a citation for an alleged summary violation, you must do the following:

1.  Plead Guilty - Sign the "I plead Guilty" section on the bottom of the citation and mail it in to the appropriate magistrates office (found in the top left corner on the front of the citation). If a if a fine total is listed on the citation, you must make arrangements to pay the fine and costs with the appropriate magistrates office.  If there is no fine total listed, contact the magistrates office to receive a total cost of the citation.

2.  Plead Not Guilty - Sign the "I plead Not Guilty" section at the bottom of the citation and mail it in or hand deliver it to the appropriate magistrates office.  The magistrate may require that collateral be posted prior to accepting the plea.   Once a not guilty plea has ben entered, a summary hearing will be scheduled at the Magistrarial District Court in which you will be required to apprear at, or hire legal counsel to represent you, or both.         

Pennsylvania law says you must stop—whether the accident involves a pedestrian, a moving car, a

parked car or someone’s property. If you drive away, you can be charged with “hit and run” even if the

accident was not your fault. You must also exchange information with the other driver—your name and

driver’s license number, the vehicle identification number of the car you are driving, the name and

address of the car’s owner, the name and address of your insurance company and your insurance policy

number.

Hit-and-run penalties are severe. Depending on the damage or injuries, you may be fined, sent to jail

or both. You also could lose your driver’s license.

If you hit a parked car or other property, try to find the owner or driver. If you cannot, the law says

you may drive away only after you leave behind, in a conspicuous place, your name, address and an

explanation of the accident, and the name and address of your car’s owner (if other than yourself). You

also must notify the SWRPD either by telephone or in person as soon as possible.

An officer who comes to the scene of the accident will conduct an investigation. An official Accident Report will be completed within 14 days of the accident.  You may obtain a copy of the report or direct your insurance company to obtain a copy of the report following it's completion.  Copies of the report are $15.00 each.

Obscene or harassing phone calls can be one of the most stressful and frightening invasions of privacy a person experiences. And unwanted phone calls, while a minor problem when compared with threatening calls, can still be a major inconvenience.

When someone calls and uses obscene or threatening language, or even heavy breathing or silence to intimidate you, you are receiving a harassing call. It is against the law.

For harassing calls, serious threats, if life or property are threatened, or if calls are obscene, you should call 911 and file a report with the SWRPD. Provide as much information as you can. Indicate the gender of the caller and describe the caller's voice. Note the time and date of the call(s). What did the caller say? How old did he/she sound? Did the caller seem intoxicated? Did he/she have an accent or speech impediment? Was there any background noise? Was a phone number/name displayed on the Caller ID device?

If the calls are frequent or particularly threatening, the phone company can set up a "Trap" on your phone line. The Trap allows the phone company to determine the telephone number from which the harassing calls originate. You must keep a log noting the time and date the harassing calls are received. Traps are usually set up for no more than two weeks. The phone company does not charge a fee for Traps.

A phone company service called Call Trace may also be able to help track down harassing calls. Immediately after receiving a harassing call, you enter the code *57 on your phone and the call is automatically traced (1157 on rotary phones). Call Trace is easier than using a Trap since the customer does not have to keep a phone log. But Call Trace technology works only within the local service area.

Call Trace must be set up in advance by the individual receiving harassing calls, and it requires a fee for use. However, in situations where the phone company would ordinarily use a Trap, you might not be charged if the phone company suggests that Call Trace be used as an alternative. Be sure to ask.

The information collected from Call Trace or from a Trap is turned over to the SWRPD.  SWRPD can attempt to stop the harassing calls by either warning or arresting the harasser. With both Call Trace and a Trap, your phone conversations are not listened to or recorded by the phone company.

If the caller uses a phone booth or multiple phone lines, the phone company and SWRPD may never get enough identification to take further action. In cases like these, changing your phone number might help. Also, you might want to get an unlisted or unpublished number. In addition, the tips listed below for discouraging other types of unwanted calls may be of help.

Do not disclose personal information when called by someone you do not know. They might be checking out the residence for possible robbery or other crime. If the caller asks what number they have called, do not give it. Instead, ask them to tell you what number they dialed.

To prevent being targeted for obscene calls and heavy breathing, women should only list their first initial and last name in the phone directory. Having an unlisted number is another option.

Children should be instructed to never reveal information to unknown callers. Instead, they should be taught to record the caller's name and phone number along with date and time.

Do not include your telephone number on the outgoing message of your voice mail service if you wish to keep your number private. By omitting your phone number from your message, you prevent random dialers and people with Call Return (explained below) from capturing this information.

Most local phone companies offer a relatively new service called Privacy Manager. It works with Caller ID to identify incoming calls that have no telephone numbers. Calls identified as "anonymous," unavailable," out of area" or "private" must identify themselves in order to complete the call. Before your phone rings, a recorded message instructs the caller to unblock the call, enter a code number (like the inbound call blocking devices mentioned above), or record their name. When your phone rings, you can choose to accept or reject the call, send it to voice mail, or send a special message to telemarketers instructing them to put you on their "do not call" list. Contact your phone company to see if this option is available.

With cell phones fast becoming the primary way of communicating, harassing phone calls can be especially distressing and disruptive. You should be aware of the steps you need to take if you receive harassing calls or text messages.

First, you should file a report with the SWRPD. It is important that you file the report as a first step because most cell phone carriers will not reveal customer information, including a harasser's identity, without police investigation.

Unlike traditional "land-line" phones, you are not able to block incoming callers to your cell phone. However, you should record the date, time, and description of each call, and save any messages you receive. This information is essential evidence in helping the police and the cell phone carrier investigate the harassment. It is a good idea to play the any messages into a tape recorder.

Most carriers explicitly prohibit harassing SMS (short message service) messages, or as they are more commonly known, text messages, in their terms of use. However, filing a police report is still an important step. Since text messages can be sent from a computer without sending a call-back number, it may be difficult to pinpoint who is sending the message.

In addition to filing the police report, it is important to document the harassment. If you think the messages will be deleted before the investigation is complete, you may want to photograph the text messages.

Parents should be aware of the increase in electronic bullying through text messages. One option is to contact the carrier and ask that the text message function be disabled. Disabling this feature will block all messages though (it is not usually possible to block a single phone number). As cell phones are often an integral part of a child's social life, you may not want to completely take away this option.

Experts suggest that turning off the text messaging function for a few days may be enough to discourage the harasser. Policies on blocking text messages vary by individual carrier, and your carrier may offer other options.

Often people use shorthand for text messages. If you are unsure of what the shorthand means, you can use the translator found at www.teenangels.org .

Private property owners have the right to exclude persons from trespassing on their respective property.  Criminal trespassing, such as breaking into a structure, simple trespassing with intent to terrorize and defiant trespass are against PA law. Asking someone to leave your property and who refuses to leave, ignoring a fencing or enclosure used to keep out unwanted persons or notice of trespass signs placed in a conspicous area are all examples of defiant trespass.  SWRPD advises that if you encounter a trespasser, and he poses no immediate threat to persons  or property, to call 911 and have a SWRPD officer respond and not challenge the actor(s).  If a vehicle is on the property, try to get the registration plate and give the tag number to the 911 dispatcher when you report the incident. 

You may also grant SWRPD permission to conduct patrols on your property by submitting a letter of agency form, whereby giving permission to SWRPD to enforce all laws of the Commonwealth on your proprerty.

To download a Letter of Agency form, click here.       Letter of Agency form

SWRPD enforces local ordinances of some of the communities in which we serve.  On occassion, a resident/property owner may receive a letter advising that they have an ordinance violation on their property.  A notice of ordinance violation is just that- a notice.  It is not a fine.  It is a courtesy to the resident that a violation of a local ordinance was discovered, and that correction of the violation(s) must be made within (10) days upon receipt of the notice.  If you have a question regarding the ordinance or what particular corrections must be made, contact SWRPD.