The six-week hunt for Eric Matthew Frein created ripples felt statewide in September with many regions seeing fewer citations and arrests by state police.

Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts data show traffic and nontraffic citations, as well as criminal complaints filed by state troopers in district court, are significantly fewer than this time last year.Counties that are near the manhunt's Pike County epicenter where law enforcement continue to scour the Pocono Mountain forests show the steepest decline.Officials accuse Frein, 31, of Canadensis, of fatally shooting state police Cpl. Bryon Dickson and critically wounding trooper Alex Douglass the night of Sept. 12 outside the Troop R Blooming Grove barracks.The search for the suspect has dragged on in Monroe and Pike counties, and troopers from all across the state have been called to help.The Morning Call newspaper in Allentown first reported on the filing decline last week after a district judge dismissed summary charges against a man when his accuser failed to show up in court.That trooper was out hunting Frein, the paper says.The massive manhunt that once had an estimated 1,000 troopers and federal agents combing the forests has been reduced to about 200 troopers working across three daily shifts.Our barracksLocally, troopers at the Fern Ridge and Lehighton barracks said their numbers have stayed about the same. Neither would specify the numbers of troopers diverted to the search.Cpl. Jason Rasmus of the Fern Ridge barracks said the number of troopers hunting for Frein varies, and that the numbers of criminal complaints filed by troopers this past September was about the same as in September 2013."Our numbers aren't dropping. We're spread thin but we're working hard," he said.At the Lehighton barracks, Sgt. Brian Vadell, who is also station commander, said "Our incidents and enforcement have remained fairly level (in September 2013 and this past September). The number of personnel depends on the needs of the day.""I'm sure the Frein search has had some impact on traffic enforcement, but it's not the only reason numbers are less than the previous year," state police spokesman Thomas R. Kelly said in an email.The statewide police force is down about 500 troopers due to a hiring freeze and less funding for cadet training, Kelly said.Statewide effortKelly said his own Troop P rotates four troopers daily from five of its stations to assist in the manhunt. It's unclear how many Troop P officers, who hail from Bradford, Sullivan, Wyoming and Luzerne counties, had been deployed to the Poconos at the search's onset, but Kelly said troops across the state now are contributing to the cause."We as a department realize that even though there is a massive manhunt taking place in the Poconos, day-to-day police protection cannot be compromised in any area of the state," Kelly said.Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of state troopers suddenly converged on the Buck Hill Inn site in search of the suspected cop-killer.A resident in the area reported seeing Frein crossing Route 390.Trooper Connie Devens confirmed the sighting of a man in a black sweatshirt near the inn earlier Tuesday, but would not give specifics about where or what time the sighting happened.The police search has been expanded to include a helium balloon.The Ohio Department of Transportation has donated the use of the large Mylar balloon, which is similar to a weather balloon.Police said the tethered, unmanned balloon can provide similar levels of technology as some of the state police helicopters at a fraction of the cost.It is also quieter than helicopters.Times News reporter Chris Parker contributed to this report.