Police Chief Tom King said less grant money, a rise in the cost of benefits and a local tax base that has become stagnant are just some of the reasons the borough cannot afford to hire more officers.

"We don't have as many officers as we should have, but that costs more money," King said. "Most municipalities are in the same boat. You need more staff than you can afford."

An overwhelming majority of the police budget is used for employee salaries and benefits, which add up to $5,381,626 or 88 percent of the proposed 2004 budget. This would be an increase of $961,768 more than the 2001 budget.

State College Borough Council member Tom Daubert said there could be room to hire more police if these numbers were lower, but the personnel area is the hardest place to cut corners because of tough negotiations with union representatives.

He said discussions about wages between borough officials and the police union usually end up being heard by an arbitrator, whose decision is legally binding. The arbitrator has almost always set salary and benefit increases closer to the union's requests, Daubert added.

The union representative for State College police officers was unavailable for comment.

King said one of the reasons benefits have gone up so sharply is because of rising health insurance costs, which have increased a total of $310,955 since 2001 for coverage of all borough employees.

However, Daubert said more foot patrol is very important, and if council decides more officers are needed, the police department would have to find a way to accommodate the increase.

"I still think that we can put more officers on the street, and that's council's responsibility," he said.

The hiring of additional officers was easier in the mid-1990s because of more available grant money, but that source of funding has since dried up, King said.

He said the grants that made it possible to hire in the past almost always lasted for just three years. After that money was used up, the borough was forced to maintain the salaries and benefits of the additional officers through its usual funding, King added.

The need for more officers on foot was an issue discussed repeatedly during this year's council race. Many of the candidates said that with the increase in sexual assaults lately, a stronger police presence on the street is necessary.

King said this would be a problem with the current number of police on staff.

"There's not a lot of discretionary time to take officers out of cars," he said.

Stationing more police on the street would make for slower response time to other calls, he added.

King said police services could be administered more efficiently if State College created a regional police department. Currently, Ferguson and Patton townships and Penn State have their own police departments, while Harris and College townships pay for the services of the State College police.

Because they are located so close to each other, all four police forces must deal with the same problems, King said. If these departments were combined, any duplication of services would be eliminated and grant money might be easier to get, he added.

However, Patton Township Police Chief John Petrick said this idea came up a few years ago, and Patton residents overwhelmingly rejected it, saying they wanted their own police department.

• Council undecided on 2004 police budget