Pennsylvania Act 2007-58 — PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE TROOPER ROBERT D. LAPP, JR., MEMORIAL HIGHWAY - DESIGNATION

Act text

PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE TROOPER ROBERT D. LAPP, JR., MEMORIAL HIGHWAY -
                               DESIGNATION
                  Act of Oct. 4, 2007, P.L. 419, No. 58               Cl. 87
                                  AN ACT

     Designating a portion of State Route 462 in Lancaster County as
        the Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Robert D. Lapp, Jr.,
        Memorial Highway.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

     Section 1.  Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Robert D. Lapp,
                    Jr., Memorial Highway.
        (a)  Declaration of policy.--The General Assembly finds and
     declares as follows:
            (1)  Robert D. Lapp, Jr., was born September 27, 1942, in
        Washington, D.C., graduated from Reading High School in 1960
        and enlisted in the Navy. He served for three years,
        including 27 months in Japan, until he was honorably
        discharged on September 19, 1963.
            (2)  Trooper Lapp enlisted in the Pennsylvania State
        Police Academy in September 1964.
            (3)  Following graduation from the academy, Trooper Lapp
        was assigned to Troop A in western Pennsylvania, where he
        served in the patrol unit at Indiana, Somerset, Pittsburgh
        and Greensburg.
            (4)  In March of 1968, he was transferred to Troop J in
        Lancaster County, where he served briefly in the patrol unit
        and then as a Criminal Investigator.
            (5)  Trooper Lapp served this Commonwealth with bravery
        and distinction until his death on October 16, 1972, after
        being shot while attempting to apprehend an escaped prisoner
        from New Jersey who was serving a life sentence for the
        murder of three individuals ten years earlier.
            (6)  On Friday, October 13, 1972, Trooper Lapp had worked
        a double shift investigating an armed bank robbery in
        Lancaster, which the prisoner was suspected of committing.
        Trooper Lapp was at home and off duty when information was
        developed as to where the prisoner might be hiding out.
        Members of the Troop J Lancaster Criminal Investigation Unit
        stopped at Trooper Lapp's home on their way to the suspect's
        location to request assistance from Trooper Lapp. Trooper
        Lapp did not hesitate to answer the call of duty. He grabbed
        his gun and vest and proceeded to the scene. Trooper Lapp
        voluntarily led the way into the apartment, as he was the
        only officer with a protective vest.
            (7)  At 30 years of age, Trooper Lapp, an eight-year
        veteran of the Pennsylvania State Police, was the 68th member
        of the Pennsylvania State Police to be killed in the line of
        duty.
            (8)  Trooper Lapp left behind a wife and three children,
        six, four and three years of age.
            (9)  A eulogy by Father John Travers of St. Anthony of
        Padua Catholic Church described Trooper Lapp as "more than an
        exceptional law officer. He was a loyal and trusted friend.
        His fellow officers knew him as an unselfish man, always
        dependable to the point of sacrificing his own desires and
        interests when they needed his help, a humble man who, though
        gifted physically with strength and natural athletic ability,
        never bragged of his talents or tried to dominate others; a
        man with inner toughness and a competitive desire to excel,
        but never at the expense of honesty or fair play; a good
        natured, kind and gentle man who always was pleasant to work
        and relax with."
        (b)  Designation.--The portion of State Route 462 in
     Lancaster Township from the Lancaster City line on the west to
     the Conestoga River on the east, Lancaster County, is designated
     the Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Robert D. Lapp, Jr.,
     Memorial Highway.
        (c)  Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
     maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the highway to
     traffic in both directions.
     Section 2.  Effective date.
        This act shall take effect in 60 days.