But its ranks dwindled, and the group's duties were eventually relegated largely to crowd and traffic control at local events.

Although maligned by some, this organization provided a valuable service to the communities of Northwest Pennsylvania by serving in times of natural disaster and civil unrest and relieved the burden of understaffed local law enforcement (as well as the PSP "regulars") when additional manpower was crucial to keeping the peace (for example, following the killer tornadoes of Memorial Day 1985, when these officers worked 14-hour shifts for over two weeks alongside the Pennsylvania National Guard to prevent looting and other crimes.

Without these volunteer police officers, the towns hit hardest by the devastation would have suffered at the hands of criminals known to be specifically targeting the area from as far away as Cleveland, Ohio).

Membership in the State Police of Crawford and Erie Counties was solely decided by a three-fourths vote of its members.

In defense of this fact, many Companies (the individual troops in geographical areas) within the organization had stringent criteria for membership and had required training regimens, especially for firearms qualification.