Protect your vehicle and property  5:27pm January 16 Several unlocked/parked vehicles have been entered recently in the Birchwood Hills area and items removed. Please make sure to lock all vehicles and remove all valuables such as medications, GPS, satellite radio and money. Be sure to report any suspicious activity/persons to police right away. Smooth Operator  9:32pm March 11 The Plains Twp. Police Dept. will be participating in the PA. Smooth Operator Program beginning January 18, 2010. The Smooth Operator Program is a public safety initiative, which aims to provide education, information and solutions for the problem of aggressive driving. Smooth Operator works to: stop aggressive drivers, reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities, protect everyone on our roads and make living, working, and playing safer for all of us. Some behaviors typically associated with aggressive driving include: exceeding the posted speed limit, following too closely, erratic or unsafe lane changes, improperly signaling lane changes and failure to obey traffic control devices(stop signs, yield signs etc...). Buckle-UP PA Patrols  3:25pm February 18 The Plains Twp. Police Dept. participates in the Buckle-UP PA. seat belt enforcement program. Pennsylvania's seat belt usage rate has reached an unprecedented high of 86.7% Lives are being saved as a direct result of law enforcement's committment to enforcing the seat belt laws. The goal in 2008 is to increase seat belt use in the Commonwealth to 88.5%. Restraint use is lower at night than during the day, and 80% of nighttime fatalities in our State are unbuckled. Crashes remain the leading cause of death in young drivers. Please buckle-up! Next page of news...

About Us

Plains Township is a First Class Township, founded on November 10, 1851. The Township is located in the northeast portion of Pennsylvania and is in the east portion of Luzerne County. The City of Wilkes-Barre is southwest and borders Plains Township in that area. The Township has a 14.5 square mile land area, bi-sected at various points by Interstate Route 81, the PA Turnpike, and State Route 309, providing a direct access route to the PA Turnpike and Interstate 81 for communities in the western side of the Wyoming Valley. There are approximately 11,000 residents that live within the Township.

Our Mission

The Plains Township Police Department, working in partnership with the entire community, is committed to providing the highest quality police service to all of our citizens. Community Safety is our primary goal and we will seek a solution to any problem that creates fear or threatens the quality of life in our communities.

When a community works in cooperation with the police department and local government, it has a positive impact on reducing neighborhood crime, eliminates the fear of impending acts of crime, and promotes a feeling of assurance that our community is safe for all of our families.

Preventing crime is as important as arresting criminals; Preventing disorder is as important as preventing crime; and reducing both crime and disorder require that police work cooperatively in neighborhoods to:

1. Identify their concerns
2. Solicit their help
3. Solve their problems

The Plains Township Police Department is a first rate, full service police agency providing twenty-four hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year protection. We have a total of nineteen sworn officers and one unsworn clerical person. Our goals are to place a greater emphasis on community policing by identifying neighborhood problems and providing the resources with a positive solution. We will establish greater communication with community residents and business leaders.

COMMUNICATION + COOPERATION = IMPROVEMENT

Services We Provide

1. Educational Programs: focusing on prevention, bicycle safety, drug abuse, child safety, residential and business security.

2. Tours

3. Operation ID : offering engravers and warning stickers to protect your valuables

4. Bicycle registrations

5. Neighborhood Crime Watch

6. Police Ride-Alongs

7. Kid Care Photo and fingerprint identifications

8. Vacation home checks

Please browse our site and let us know what you think!