Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes

22 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 3303 (2026)

 Powers and duties.

✓ current as of May 2026
Coverage note: this corpus holds the consolidated Pa.C.S. titles only. Unconsolidated P.S. statutes (UTPCPL 73 P.S. § 201-1, Liquor Code, wage payment laws) are not included; a miss here does not mean the statute does not exist. Check palegis.us.
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section PA-LEGpalegis.us JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

§ 3303.  Powers and duties.

(a)  General powers.--Railroad and street railway policemen shall severally possess and exercise all the powers of a police officer in the City of Philadelphia, in and upon, and in the immediate and adjacent vicinity of, the property of the corporate authority or elsewhere within this Commonwealth while engaged in the discharge of their duties in pursuit of railroad, street railway or transportation system business.

(b)  Detention of arrested persons.--The keepers of jails and other places of detention in any county of this Commonwealth shall receive all persons arrested by railroad or street railway policemen for purposes of detention until they are dealt with according to law.

(c)  Badge.--Railroad and street railway policemen when on duty shall wear or carry a metallic shield containing the words "railroad police" or "railway police" and the name of the authority.

(d)  Course of instruction.--Every railroad and street railway police officer shall successfully complete the same course of instruction required for municipal police officers by the act of June 18, 1974 (P.L.359, No.120), referred to as the Municipal Police Education and Training Law.

 

Reference in Text.  The act of June 18, 1974 (P.L.359, No.120), referred to as the Municipal Police Education and Training Law, referred to in subsec. (d), was repealed by the act of December 19, 1996 (P.L.1158, No.177).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases, 1998–2017 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Firman, 813 A.2d 643 (Pa. 2002).
Commonwealth v. Firman, 813 A.2d 643 (Pa. 2002). · cites it 12× “I agree with the view expressed by Judge Johnson in his dissenting opinion below that the port authority officer here was not "engaged in the discharge of [his] duties" as required by 22 Pa.C.S. § 3303, when he stopped Appellant.”
Commonwealth v. Firman, 789 A.2d 297 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2001). · cites it 4× “22 Pa.C.S. § 3303 (emphasis added). ¶ 3 Section 3303(a), when considered in its entirety and interpreted in accordance with the plain meaning of the language, can be read only as a specific limitation of the powers accorded by the legislature to Port Authority officers.”
McKinley v. Commonwealth, Dep't of Transp., Bureau of Driver Licensing, 769 A.2d 1153 (Pa. 2001). · cites it 2× “Again, in other instances in which the General Assembly has intended security personnel termed police officers to have authority concurrent with that of municipal police, it has stated so in explicit terms.”
Kline v. Commonwealth, Dep't of Transp., Bureau of Driver Licensing, 706 A.2d 909 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1998). “See Section 3303 of the Railroad and Street Railway Police Act, 22 Pa.C.S. § 3303.”
Snyder v. Commonwealth, Dep't of Transp., Bureau of Driver Licensing, 2 A.3d 758 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2010). · cites it 10× “Section 3303(a) of the Railroad and Street Railway Police Act (Act), 22 Pa.C.S. § 3303(a), addresses the jurisdiction that Port Authority police officers have in exercising general police powers and provides as follows: Railroad and street railway policeman shall severally…”
Com. v. Stiger, R. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2016). · cites it 3× “The power of Port Authority officers is codified at 22 Pa.C.S. § 3303 and provides, in relevant part: (a) General powers.”
Com. v. Jones, S. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2017). “Jurisdiction The jurisdiction and authority of Septa police officers is set forth in the Railroad and Street Railway Police Act, which provides, in relevant part: Railroad and street railway policemen shall severally possess and exercise all of the powers of a police officer in…”
— 22 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 3303(a) — 5 cases
Commonwealth v. Firman, 813 A.2d 643 (Pa. 2002). “I agree with the view expressed by Judge Johnson in his dissenting opinion below that the port authority officer here was not "engaged in the discharge of [his] duties" as required by 22 Pa.C.S. § 3303, when he stopped Appellant.”
Commonwealth v. Firman, 789 A.2d 297 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2001). “22 Pa.C.S. § 3303 (emphasis added). ¶ 3 Section 3303(a), when considered in its entirety and interpreted in accordance with the plain meaning of the language, can be read only as a specific limitation of the powers accorded by the legislature to Port Authority officers.”
Snyder v. Commonwealth, Dep't of Transp., Bureau of Driver Licensing, 2 A.3d 758 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2010). “Section 3303(a) of the Railroad and Street Railway Police Act (Act), 22 Pa.C.S. § 3303(a), addresses the jurisdiction that Port Authority police officers have in exercising general police powers and provides as follows: Railroad and street railway policeman shall severally…”
Com. v. Stiger, R. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2016). “The power of Port Authority officers is codified at 22 Pa.C.S. § 3303 and provides, in relevant part: (a) General powers.”
Com. v. Jones, S. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2017). “Jurisdiction The jurisdiction and authority of Septa police officers is set forth in the Railroad and Street Railway Police Act, which provides, in relevant part: Railroad and street railway policemen shall severally possess and exercise all of the powers of a police officer in…”
— 22 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 3303(d) — 3 cases
Commonwealth v. Firman, 813 A.2d 643 (Pa. 2002). “I agree with the view expressed by Judge Johnson in his dissenting opinion below that the port authority officer here was not "engaged in the discharge of [his] duties" as required by 22 Pa.C.S. § 3303, when he stopped Appellant.”
McKinley v. Commonwealth, Dep't of Transp., Bureau of Driver Licensing, 769 A.2d 1153 (Pa. 2001). “Again, in other instances in which the General Assembly has intended security personnel termed police officers to have authority concurrent with that of municipal police, it has stated so in explicit terms.”
Snyder v. Commonwealth, Dep't of Transp., Bureau of Driver Licensing, 2 A.3d 758 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2010). “Section 3303(a) of the Railroad and Street Railway Police Act (Act), 22 Pa.C.S. § 3303(a), addresses the jurisdiction that Port Authority police officers have in exercising general police powers and provides as follows: Railroad and street railway policeman shall severally…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.