GEORGETOWN, Del., Jan. 17, 2006 – Sussex Countians will see more state troopers on patrol in the coming months, thanks to the Sussex County Council’s continued financial support of public safety.

During a brief ceremony on The Circle in Georgetown, members of the County Council on Tuesday, January 17, 2006, presented a check totaling $414,221 to the Delaware State Police. State police received the check and displayed seven new patrol cars that troopers will use in Sussex County this year.

The check presentation was the first payment on a $1.2 million contract with state police for fiscal year 2006, an agreement that adds troopers above the normal complement assigned to the county. County government, using revenue from its share of the realty transfer tax on property sales, pays a portion of the salaries of 28 troopers assigned to Sussex County.

Four of those 28 troopers will graduate from the police academy later this month, and be assigned to the county, said state police Maj. R.L. Hughes, field operations officer for Kent and Sussex counties. Sussex County, in the first year, will pay 100 percent of their salaries, and then reduce the contribution for those salaries in the years to come.

The $414,221 payment made Tuesday includes nearly $200,000 to cover the cost of the seven vehicles, while the balance will go toward trooper salaries.

For more than a decade, Sussex County and the state police have partnered in an agreement that puts additional troopers on the road in Sussex County – beyond what the state would assign to Sussex. With this agreement, Sussex County will have 168 troopers on patrol in the county, not counting homicide detectives, drug investigators and medevac pilots and medics.

Prior to the first agreement between the state and county in 1994, the state assigned 140 troopers to Sussex, Maj. Hughes said. The county contract has not only added more troopers, but 47 additional patrol cars in that same time.

Maj. Hughes said without the contract, Sussex County would no doubt have fewer troopers and cars on the road today.

“What this does for us – this unique partnership – is it provides us with the opportunity to try to grow at a pace that is equal with the growth in population in Sussex County,” Maj. Hughes said. “The bottom line is we need this support, and it works.”

County Administrator Robert L. Stickels said the agreement works not only for the state police, but for the county as well, and is an example of the county’s commitment to public safety. In the current budget year, Sussex County has designated $17.5 million for public safety, including paramedics, the fire service and state police.

“We feel this is the most cost-effective way of putting more police on the road,” Mr. Stickels said. “And that ensures the public’s continued safety.”