Police in Westmoreland County to escort school buses after complaints of law-breaking drivers
Police are taking action after school bus drivers in Westmoreland County said that drivers pass them while they're stopped to let children off.
There's one thing Ken Vogel said he and his school bus drivers with DMJ Transportation see several times a week.
"Everybody wants to be in front of the bus," Vogel said.
They only recorded a little more than 30 incidents for 2025. However, he believes that number is actually in the hundreds, even thousands.
"If a bus is rolling up with its ambers on, they're going past it. If the bus activates the reds, the drivers are already engaged in passing the bus," Vogel said.
Latrobe Police Department Chief Richard Bosco said officers are hearing these complaints.
"A lot of people appear to be more distracted today than they've ever been," Bosco said.
For some time, Bosco said the department has patrolled near the elementary school during drop-off and pickup, but now it is bolstering its efforts.
"They will follow some of the buses through the more heavily-trafficked areas, and in other areas, like major intersections and stuff, where we know that there's large pickups and drop-offs of students. They will be sitting stationary there as well," Bosco said.
Bosco said the escorts will take place Monday through Friday at all schools in the city. Officers won't follow every bus on every route every day, but they will have a greater presence.
He said it won't take away resources from priority calls, and that officers will ticket those who violate the law. However, he said this isn't about punishment.
"It's about the safety of the students. It's about the safety of the community, and it's about the safety of the buses and the bus drivers and everything else," Bosco said.
The department just wants compliance.
"We don't want anybody to be scarred, either the children, their family, or the driver of the vehicle, and it's definitely a scar and a burden they would carry for the rest of their life," Bosco said.
Bosco said this will probably go on for the rest of the school year or until police see a reduction in the problem.