Frank McKetta (1917–2006) was an American law enforcement officer from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, best known for his efforts in fighting police corruption. The son of Ukrainian immigrants, he was born in a small coal mining village in western Pennsylvania. After a short stint working in the coal mines, he attended the Pennsylvania State Police Academy at Hershey, Pennsylvania, and started his career as a state trooper in 1937.
He was appointed commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police in 1967, and in 1971 became the chief of the Federal Protective Service. He retired due to illness. McKetta developed a strong interest in fighting police corruption, racketeering, and influence peddling and became a speaker on the lecture circuit. His book, Police, politics, corruption: the mixture dangerous to freedom and justice, was released in 2000.Frank McKetta. Police, politics, corruption: the mixture dangerous to freedom and justice. West Virginia: Mcclain Printing Co 2000 .
Family history The history of the McKetta family starts in the small town of Koroschenko, which means "pretty little village". This was located in the western edge of Ukraine and was the home of many unrelated families with the common name of Mukema (in Cyrillic). Within these families was a man named Wassail I, "Charles", Mukema. At the age of sixteen he joined Franz Joseph's Army. During his service, his section was captured and he was held in captivity for seven years. While in captivity, his betrothed, Catherine Melynk remained faithful, even though she had received no information about the status of Wassail. When she finally decided to marry someone else, Wassail arrived on the eve of her marriage in 1851. After he was identified, the wedding was canceled and the two were reunited in marriage. For his services in the Army, the country of Ukraine awarded the family with of land.
After starting a life together, the two had one son, Wassail II, born in 1845. After the death of the late Wassail, the son inherited the land from his father. In order to pay for his partying and drinking, he sold all but acres of the land. On this land, Wassail II married Anna Mchnyk with whom he had three sons, John (born 1889), Frank (born 1891), and Steve (born 1894). After his wife died, he remarried a young girl and had two daughters, Katherine and Bertha. The boys took care of the farm land, and neither the boys nor the girls received any type of schooling because Ukraine did not have any elementary schools in this area during the early 1900s.History of the Mckettas and the Gelets
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the American steel companies looked to Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe to offer men jobs along with a free passage to America and $25 cash. In 1903 the eldest son, John, was only fourteen years old. While lying about his age when applying, he was fortunate to be invited to America. In January 1904, he started his journey to the United States and sent $20 of his $25 to his father back home. After a long journey, John docked in Baltimore. When filling out paper work at the immigration desk he was asked his name. As a result of no former education, he did not know how to spell his name and his last name was in Cyrillic, which has no spelling (it is only phonetic). With John's pronunciation, the immigration officer gave him the spelling of "McKetta". From Baltimore he was sent to Wyano, Pennsylvania, where he began work in the coal mine six days a week. After four years of labor he had saved enough money to send for his brother Frank and another two years later for Steve.
In 1910, Frank boarded with John and bride, Mary.1910 Federal Census. Pennsylvania. Westmoreland County. South Huntington. Page 32. Line 87. Frank received his citizenship papers in 1908, and in 1914, he and Nancy Julia McKetta were married.1930 United States Federal Census. Census Place: South Huntingdon, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania; Roll 2159; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 157; Image: 693.0.
Biography On February 19, 1917, Frank McKetta was born in Wyano, Pennsylvania. A daughter, Mary, followed in 1919, and then a son, Steve, on November 7, 1921.Social Security Death Index , Steve McKetta, Number: ;Issue State: Pennsylvania;Issue Date: Before 1951.
Although they owned their own home, Frank McKetta and his family struggled during the Great Depression, when tragedy struck in 1936 with the death of Frank's father in a mining accident. His mother was left alone to raise the family during this economic struggle. The family survived with the help of a cow that was kept in a shed along with a pig and some chickens. They all helped keeping up a garden and during Frank's younger years, they had no outside form of income. Frank McKetta was lucky to be a part of a family in which all of the children received high school education at this time in history. He attended South Huntingdon High School which is now known as Yough High School. After high school only one of his sisters went to college. Frank McKetta chose to work along with family members at the McKetta Coal Company until he saved enough money to enter into the police academy. After saving enough money, he entered the Police Academy in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on September 1, 1937. His career as a trooper started when he was first assigned in Luzerne County, where he was able to see first-hand the signs of corruption in the law enforcement. He later attended Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana, to take a summer course in 1963 on Advanced Police Management.McKetta 61."Acting Deputy Frank McKetta Selected as New Commissioner of Police by Governor Shafer." Communicator. Jan. 1967: Vol. 5 Num. 1.Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Manual, Cabinet Level Agencies. Harrisburg, PA, 2008. volume 116:4, pp. 4–79, 4-80.
Early law enforcement career
First assignment and police corruption McKetta's first assignment set the tone of his career. He was asked to accompany a senior trooper at a local police force raid on a well-known gambling den. He was cautioned when attempting to arrest anyone by his supervisor. Once entering the den they found just a penny-ante poker game in the back room. They found no hard evidence, large sums of money, or big-name racketeers. A racket deals with organized crime. While McKetta was new, he assumed that his effort was a small part of a larger number raids taking place elsewhere but soon found out that this was not the case. The newspaper the next day distorted the facts and made it seem as if the local police force was helped by the state police in fighting against organized crime. McKetta discussed this with older troopers who did not agree with the system, but said they recently decided to follow orders and did not have input on the fight against organized crime. McKetta did not like how things were working and would later realize that this problem would bother him for the remainder of his career. It was hard for him to come to the realization that the "famed state police noted for legendary exploits in fighting the forces of evil was mostly a myth and that his chosen field of endeavor was in reality the tool of politicians."McKetta 43 Throughout the next several years, McKetta had found nothing but more disappointing facts about the state police. There was a strict "home rule" policy placed on the state police jurisdiction. This prohibited outside troopers from going into any community during the investigation of other crimes and simply tried to keep the state police out. While he searched for answers and some reasoning, his attitude was considered a subtle form of insubordination and was labeled a "radical" and a "misfit", but an idealist by his own friends. His attitude was the reasoning that he was transferred frequently and had many assignment changes.McKetta 42-44.
Reassigned as a detective Things did not change during the 1950s when McKetta was stationed as a detective assigned to the Greensburg, Pennsylvania, troop headquarters. He had stated that he recalled idly sitting by as a city police cruiser drove around as a well-known numbers writer to pick up his cash and number slips. He was powerless because of the governor's home rule policy and their own orders from their supervisors prohibited them from doing anything about the organized crime.
McKetta was also assigned as a detective in western Pennsylvania under Governor Fine, Commissioner Wilhelm, and Squadron One Commander Major Andrew J. Hudock. McKetta was called to assist the Westmoreland County detectives on a raid. The directions of the raid led them to a house outside of Monessen. There were no lights on and no activity inside, which was abnormal because it was a house of prostitution on a Saturday night. Because Frank was previously stationed in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, which covered the similar area, he advised the others of another whorehouse on the other side of Monessen. A few of the men pretended to not hear this comment and stated something about being within city limits and outside of their designated land. A couple other men decided to take the lead and found the girls inside the other building. The girls were placed under arrest and their work was done by midnight. Upon returning to the Greensburg office, they noticed the mayor's office light was still on as they entered their own office across the hall. The political corruption was evident when they were in trouble for entering the city of Monessen rather than being applauded for their work.McKetta 49–53. McKetta eventually served several positions within the state police force and was assigned in several different counties. For instance, after being promoted as a detective in 1952, he became a Detective-Sergeant in 1954, then a Lieutenant in 1956 and later became assistant superintendent of the State Police Academy with a Captain's rank. He also served in Greensburg, Erie, Somerset, New Kensington, Ebensburg, and Pittsburgh."Acting Deputy Frank McKetta Selected as New Commissioner of Police by Governor Shafer." Throughout this time he collected and observed cases of police corruption which were documented in the Frank McKetta Papers.
Career in law enforcement leadership
State commissioner In 1967 Frank McKetta was appointed the commissioner of the State Police by Governor Raymond P. Shafer. Shafer was satisfied with his previous background in dealing with labor disturbances and his efforts to establish troop training programs. He also agreed with Frank's work and position on rackets, corruption, and his attempts to progress the state police force. "As a veteran of more than three decades of experience covering all phases of police work beginning as a patrolman, Major McKetta is completely qualified to head the force he has served so well", said Shafer. Not everyone believed that making McKetta commissioner was going to be positive for the state police. The same people that persecuted a previous deputy commissioner for a wiretap scandal made allegations that McKetta was involved, but this was easily disproved and the Senate unanimously confirmed him as the commissioner.McKetta 68–69.