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.