Month: June 2020

Wind Creek turns green next week

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Wind Creek is certainly one of the indices of our economic health.

from Jon Harris, “Wind Creek Bethlehem to reopen next Monday.” Morning Call, June 22, 2020.

A new age of casino gambling in the Lehigh Valley will get its start next Monday when Wind Creek Bethlehem reopens for the first time in more than three months.

Wind Creek, which closed to the public March 15 to help stem the spread of the coronavirus, made the announcement Monday. The news comes days after the Lehigh Valley learned it would enter the green phase of the state’s reopening plan Friday, a phase that permits casinos to open at 50% occupancy.

During the pandemic, Wind Creek Bethlehem was able to pay its roughly 2,400 employees through the end of May but furloughed 2,095 of them June 1, as the downturn entered its third month. Wind Creek Hospitality President and CEO Jay Dorris told The Morning Call this month that the casino hopes to bring all employees back as operations ramp back up.

With the potential shift in consumer preferences following this pandemic, however, Dorris said Wind Creek was tapping the brakes on a $250 million plan to transform the crumbling Bethlehem Steel No. 2 Machine Shop into an indoor water park and entertainment complex.

But Wind Creek still wants to break ground by late summer on its $100 million hotel expansion, a project that could take 14-16 months to complete.

While a reopening date did not become clear until Monday, Wind Creek had kept patrons informed of what to expect when the casino reopens. That included plans for small groups of invited guests to start, followed days later by a reopening to the public at a reduced capacity.

“Wind Creek Hospitality has crafted a reopening plan that includes utilizing a gaming reservation system,” said Kathy McCracken, executive vice president and general manager of Wind Creek Bethlehem. “This will help our team manage appropriate capacity in the building as well as providing a way to continuously clean the gaming floor throughout the day.”

Safety precautions include temperature checks for everyone entering the facility and masks or facial coverings for employees. Guests are asked to bring their own masks.

Players who do not have their own masks will be able to get them on site for small donations supporting Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley & Northeast PA. Smoking will be allowed only in an outdoor area in the north parking lot.

One of the Lehigh Valley’s largest employers, the casino had some employees test positive for COVID-19. That included Jonathan Shen, a 31-year-old table games supervisor who died April 22 following a four-week battle with COVID-19.

During an interview June 12, Dorris declined to disclose the number of employee cases but noted the casino had the situation arise and tried to be proactive in giving employees the necessary leave to get treated and recover. He said Wind Creek was following all guidance, including notifying those who were in close contact with someone who tested positive.

“We’ve had to deal with it, and we’re going to be dealing with that for some time now going forward,” he said.

Police, “Now is the time for listening”

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“Now is the time for listening.”
Councilman Colon
June 3, 2020

What in god’s name was that last post?

In short, it was an example of how not to start a conversation/discussion on racism, especially in our upcoming Community Engagement Initiative.

And yet, and yet it is also an example, albeit perhaps exaggerated, of how, in Gadfly’s experience, many white people and especially people in power in general start a conversation/discussion on racism.

The default threshold position often is defense — not me racist, not me, not us — with an inventory of proof of my/our beneficent interactions with people of color.

We tend to distance ourselves as agents of the bad stuff.

Gadfly sometimes feels that whites and people in power generally have to get past a ritualistic protestation of personal and organizational innocence before a meaningful conversation/discussion about racism can hope to begin.

We can see that ritual playing out on these pages.

Gadfly told you of his myth of racial unity on the playground, Dana recalls participating in multicultural meritocracies on the ball field, the Mayor remembers the Southside melting pot of his youth and the mini social justice utopias in his inner-city high school classrooms, the Chief can show us files of comprehensive directives and training schedules, that is, his sacred scriptures of police department rectitude.

Examples of the no doubt natural tendency to distance ourselves from agency for the bad stuff.

But the second part of Officer Audelo’s presentation at City Council last week is the premier example in these pages of this no doubt unconscious ritual protestation of innocence.

Officer Audelo’s presentation was a rhetorical tour-de-force. It was passionate and powerful. You must listen to it. Must. It left Gadfly emotionally limp.

The thought of such acts as giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a young woman with a gunshot wound in the head, the thought of such an act numbed to normality left me gasping with admiration for this selfless public servant, a man I could never be.

“I can’t exactly start selling insurance after living this life,” Officer Audelo told us with wry humor. And a man used to putting commas in the right places could never start doing your job, Officer. It takes a special breed. And Gadfly is grateful.

But — and this is hard for Gadfly to say, for it will sound ungently critical — the Officer’s  words were (mainly) about himself, no doubt unconsciously distancing himself from the bad stuff.

You are a good man Officer Audelo. No question about that. What would we do without guys like you??????

But if the Community Engagement Initiative is to be successful, the police must play a certain kind of essential role.

They must not be defensive, self-justifying.

They must, for the most part, listen not talk.

“Now I know there is a stigma in our minority communities with the police,” Officer Audelo said.

Aye, there’s the rub.

What Gadfly would like to have heard next was “I can’t wait to sit down with members of the minority community and truly understand why that is.”

Officer Audelo addresses Council and speaks of his willingness to work with them. But no mention of willingness to work directly with the minority communities. And that’s what we need to hear.

Perhaps Gadfly is unfair, and, if so, you will slap him upside the head.

But he feels we see troubling signs in the Officer’s presentation of the no doubt unconscious initial reflex to demonstrate that “we” are the good guys.

But the “we” of racial privilege and of political and legal power have, at this cultural moment, to aim that kind of talk at our images in the bathroom mirror — and shut up.

Our job  — as Councilman Colon said — is to listen, to listen to the aggrieved.

Our job — as Councilman Reynolds said — is to provide a structure and a space for that listening to happen. (More on this later.)

Gadfly will be surprised if you don’t have a response to his words.

Homework for next time. What is the first question for the Community Engagement Initiative to answer? What is the prompt for the first meeting?

to be continued . . .

I am not a racist, no, not even a little

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“Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist”
Alison Steele

I’m not a racist, Ms. Steele, not even a little, why I pioneered teaching “Voices from the Margin” in 1990, a course introducing multiculturalism — the literatures of African Americans, Latinos, Chicanos, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, Lesbians, Gays  — into the Lehigh University English Department curriculum in 1990.

I even received a University award in 1993 for these and other activities related to multiculturalism. You don’t think they’d have given me that award if there was even a whiff of racism, do you?

005

Under the guidance of lily-white but color-blind nuns, I deposited endless pennies in small, fragile cardboard boxes decorated with crosses for the good of pagan babies in Africa throughout my elementary school years.

I had a black friend on the Highland Avenue School playground.

As a second baseman, I wore number 42 on the school baseball team.

I cry when I hear Louis Armstrong’s “What did I do to be so black and blue?”

I feel a genetic connection with Leadbelly and Big Bill Broonzy.

I have incorporated African American and Hispanic and Portuguese “Bethlehem Moments,” and LGBTQ is coming.

I come from good stock. My father worked on a melting pot assembly line, making low-level foreman just before his death. At his funeral an African American man tearfully pumped my hand with both of his, saying he was the fairest white man he ever worked for.

I have passed the good seed down.

In middle school son #2 had a new jacket stolen from a locker room. His black friends vouched for him on the grapevine as a good guy and the jacket was returned.

Son #2 had a black roommate in college. By choice. Proudly.

Son #4 has a wonderful African American friend Mrs. Gadfly calls her “long lost son” and whom he calls “mom.”

Two grandsons have dated black girls for long periods in college.

I’ve lived next door — literally wall-to-wall — in perfect harmony with a black family for 50 years. I now cut grass for the widow, shovel her snow, empty her trash. Our family were virtually the only white people at the Mister’s funeral.

They’ll play “St. James Infirmary” at my wake.

So don’t dare tar me with the racism brush, Ms. Alison Steele from Bethlehem, no ma’am, not even a little.

to be continued . . .

FOP president to Council: “If you want to work together to make our community even stronger, we’re here to work with you”

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Here is the second part of Bethlehem’s FOP president Officer William Audelo’s presentation at the beginning of the June16 City Council meeting. Find part one of the Officer’s talk here.

Read for yourself, and send comments. Gadfly will comment in a later post.

———-

“There is real racism in our country. We do not need to create events when it is actually occurring.  I know that our police as well as members of our city government must be held to a higher standard. The FOP is here for any conversation regarding inequality. Well before the murder of George Floyd we have worked with our community to build a better and stronger Bethlehem. We are proud to support our great NAACP personally and financially for years. I even spoke at this year’s Dr. King celebration. and I consider it one of my greatest honors as a police officer. Councilwoman Negron, you’ve come to me several times for feeding our seniors at the Hispanic Center, for donations to the Lynfield Public Housing Community Center. Councilman Colon, we’ve read Dr. Seuss to the amazing kids at Marvine Elementary for years, and we’ve seen firsthand the incredible work that school is doing for our young people. Councilman Callahan, when you asked if a police officer would compete in a boxing match to benefit at-risk youth and gun violence, I trained for three months before Covid-19 forced the event to be canceled. And the FOP doesn’t act just when people ask for help. This past winter Officer Shea, who will soon be a mother, met an African American woman who did not have a refrigerator but did have a list of health problems. The FOP purchased one for her and delivered it to her. I’m sure you didn’t read the press release, but that’s only because it was kept private. The females stated that her neighbors might not be as appreciative of the police, and she feared retribution. Last year we were dispatched to the Southside Little League garage because someone decided it was worth their time to vandalize the property. I got a call from the officer on the scene who said someone damaged the Little League’s stuff and the FOP is going to pay for it. I said ok, consider it done. And, again, you wouldn’t have known because we didn’t make it public. The money for these donations comes directly from the paychecks of your city police officers. This is not the police department; these are your police officers. Now I know there is a stigma in our minority communities with the police, just like I know there are social and economic injustices within our minority communities. Our officers can not come close to healing the pain caused by the murder of George Floyd. Nor can we take responsibility. We can’t change ________ about our city. We can’t change the fact that the majority of public housing is made up of a majority of our minority residents. Or the fact that an overwhelming number of our runaways are minorities. Ask Liberty High School for a breakdown of their expelled students by race. Your police officers are the band-aid of society. Councilwoman Van Wirt, last week you stated the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. I can assure you that I’ve seen enough evil for several life-times. I’ve held your loved ones up as my partner cut the electrical cord, holding their lifeless body. I’ve performed CPR on a 20 -year-old female with a gunshot wound in her head. I knew I couldn’t save her. But I also knew that her family would want me to do everything I possibly could. I heard a 5-year-old boy describe his rape as being tickled, because a child doesn’t comprehend what’s happened to them. Your police carry the memories of these things every day of their lives. To the point where we seem to be unaffected by it because it has become our norm. And I hear from the naysayers, well, you signed up for this. No one’s forced me to be a cop, fair enough. I ____________ rape my mother, and it’s accepted by everybody in this room, then it’s just part of my job. And I still love my job. I can’t exactly start selling insurance after living this life. We’re blessed to have this police department we have. We’re blessed to have this city we live in. We’ve had your support in the past, and I’ll continue to try and earn it. I can’t promise you perfection. At the end of the day we’re just imperfect people like everyone else. But if you want to work together to make our community even stronger, we’re here to work with you. The people in this room might not be able to change the country, but we can be an example for other communities. Hard work and a reasonable amount of hope can accomplish great things. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you here tonight. . . . Thank you generally to you all for letting me be here with you and speaking tonight, and please know you can reach out to me at any time, and we might disagree, we might, but I’m absolutely dedicated to working with you for whatever issue we can resolve. Thank you.” 

Rosewood: the town that disappeared

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“Rosewood was a town where everyone’s house was painted. There were
roses everywhere you walked. Lovely.”

“Although state and local authorities were aware of the violence, they made no arrests for the activities in Rosewood. The town was abandoned by black residents during the attacks. None ever returned.”

“Governor Jeb Bush in 2004 placed a plaque commemorating the massacre in front
of John Wright’s general store, the only remaining structure from the
Rosewood Massacre. This plaque was vandalized on at least one occasion
when it was shot at from a passing car.“

Speaking of the need this morning to be anti-racist.

Thinking over my breakfast this morning about everyone being a little racist.

Imagining Juneteenth as the east-creeping sun set the backyard flowers gorgeously on fire this morning.

Some people in Gadfly’s orbit have volunteered they never before heard of Juneteenth or the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.

Gadfly’s had a great education. Gadfly taught African American literature as part of his American lit survey courses since the late 1960s.

But Tulsa and Juneteenth were not on his radar till about 2009.

When student Kristen Merlo chose to do the 1997 film Rosewood for his Reel American History project.

Rosewood was like Tulsa after Tulsa, like a spreading pandemic.

In 1923, in a month-long ravage, the town of Rosewood, Florida, was literally wiped off the map. It disappeared. One building left standing.

And so began Gadfly’s education in such doings as Tulsa and the phenomenon of Sundown Towns as Kristen and I researched the film.

You have been watching extended news clips about the Tulsa massacre. You may even have watched a video documentary on Tulsa.

If you want an excellent movie version of such events, I recommend Rosewood by African American filmmaker John Singleton. It’s available on YouTube with the warning “This video may be inappropriate for some viewers.”

Indeed.

In addition to, along with, or instead of watching, you’ll find much interesting reading on the Rosewood site, including a brief history, and several student essays such as “Sundown and Silence” and “Violence, Spectacle, and Cultural Erasure.”

Rosewood trailer

Juneteenth in Bethlehem

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from Andrew Wagaman and Andrew Scott, “Juneteenth observers in Allentown, Bethlehem say recent uprising against structural racism is just the beginning.” Morning Call, June 20, 2020.

More than 100 demonstrators marched Friday through downtown Bethlehem to call for racial unity and an end to police violence, especially against people of color.

The multiracial group of people mostly in their 20s marched from Daniel Rice Plaza to Rose Garden Park, where the crowd heard speakers and live musical performances from various local bands.

The marchers carried signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and chanted slogans such as “No justice, no peace, no racist police.”

Some onlookers applauded while some passing motorists honked their horns in support, drawing cheers from the marchers.

In Bethlehem, Donovan Austin of Easton, one of the event’s organizers, told the crowd gathered at Rose Garden Park. “My ancestors were slaves in this country. My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents stood before the people, demanding to be treated equally. I am not … a ‘thug.’ I’m a human being like anyone else.

“Those of us gathered here are of different colors, but right now we’re all one color and that color is love,” Austin said to cheers, raised fists and applause in the audience.

The idea for Bethlehem’s event was born weeks prior when Austin and several other friends, who are members of a local band, performed at a similar protest at the Bethlehem Public Library.

“People just started throwing money at us as we were performing and we ended up raising about $770,” band member and event co-organizer Maxamilly Vazquez of Bethlehem said.

Band member and co-organizer Nailah Vazquez of Bethlehem said the money raised will be donated to local organizations.

“So, after that protest at the library, we decided to organize our own and have it on Juneteenth, which is a celebration of African-American culture and history. We wanted an event to promote peace, unity, good music and good vibes.”

The organizers invited friends via social media to participate in the rally.

“I heard about it through Instagram and thought it would be a really nice thing to be part of,” Anna Gehman of Bethlehem said. “Black people have a lot of reason to be upset. Police have too much power and use violence way too much, in my opinion. This protest is a good way to get the word out that things need to change.”

Carrying the red, black and green African American pride flag, Joel Paulson of Lower Saucon Township said, “Others have had their eyes opened to something that black people know has existed for a very long time. I really have a lot of hope that the energy we’re seeing among the participants here today continues going forward and that police officers who use unnecessary force will finally be held accountable.”

Participant Fabiana Gomez of Allentown said it’s important for people to be visibly active in bringing about an end to all forms of discrimination.

“If you’re not being seen taking action and calling your elected officials and taking other steps, then are you really doing your part?” Gomez asked. “It’s about time that we all started being treated equally. We’re all one race and that’s the human race.”

Some who watched the marchers pass through downtown voiced their approval.

“It’s great to see young people participating in a civil exercise, which is what we all should be doing,” said Bernardo Torres of Bethlehem, enjoying a meal with his wife outside the Pho Bowl Vietnamese/Thai restaurant on Broad Street.

His wife, Louise Torres, said, “What they’re doing is protected by our Constitution. And it’s great to see they’re doing it peacefully.”

Everyone’s a little bit racist, Part 2

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Alison Steele is a Liberty High School alum who traveled the world looking for adventure and purpose before finding it in Pittsburgh.  She has made it her mission to help others make more informed decisions around how they interact with people and the planet.

from Steele’s Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist, Part 2

If we’re talking about racism as a set of learned biases that fly just under the radar, then yes, I am, and everyone I know is. So my question is: what can I do about it?
Alison Steele

I recognize that I live a privileged life. I am white, was raised in a middle class family, and had my college costs covered. I could go on, but suffice it to say that there are numerous factors I recognize (and probably many more that I don’t) that have given me an advantage in modern American society. That being said, I was also raised with the understanding that it is my responsibility to use my position to lift up others who haven’t had the same advantages.

I’ve been fortunate enough to build a career I love in the nonprofit world focusing on the concept of social equity, working to address the social determinants of health in both urban and rural settings. However, I still feel like I could be doing more to help others, particularly given more pressing current issues.

My last job focused on housing inequality in minority/low-income neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, and therefore put me in the position to listen and learn about issues that many black Pittsburghers face. However, I wouldn’t say I’ve put in much time on my own to learn about issues of race throughout America’s history.

I realize that I fall into the realm of the “white moderate” that Dr. King described in his letter from the Birmingham jail. While I certainly don’t value order over justice, I do recognize that I share some responsibility for my silent complicity. I want to bring an end to that silence – my own and maybe others’ if I can. However, I realize the inherent problem in getting privileged people to discuss their privilege (and yes, I’m going to generalize here): we (or at least I) feel some level of guilt and shame over that position of power. It takes a lot of courage to talk about personal shame, and unfortunately, that reluctance to talk perpetuates the problem. I hope to begin down that path with what you’re about to read about personal exploration of my biases.

[please continue reading on Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist, Part 2]

At the end of Part 1 of her series, Steele provided an interesting bibliography of books on the history of racism in America. Here at the end of Part 2, Steele provides an extensive linked list of organizations working on the race issue. Great resources.

BASD superintendent Dr. Roy: “We need to educate for anti-racism”

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from Joseph Roy, “Your View by Bethlehem school superintendent: How we will teach students to be ‘anti-racist’.” Morning Call, June19, 2020.

When we talk about racism, we tend to avoid actually using the word race. This is a perfect example of the advantages and power of primarily White leaders to choose the words we use. We talk about training for multicultural awareness, tolerance, diversity, equity, inclusion ― but we avoid the words race and racism.

We ended this sad legacy in the Bethlehem Area School District last August, when I challenged our teachers to be “anti-racists” and not just “not racist.”

Anti-racists actively look for and work to end policies and practices that have a disparate impact on black and Latino people. “Not racist” implies a bystander approach to racism. Anti-racism requires us to do something.

BASD is involved in powerful anti-racist work in early literacy, closing racial opportunity gaps and moving black and Latino students to higher levels of reading proficiency. Early reading proficiency is highly correlated with high school and college graduation and more successful life outcomes.

When we eliminate racial differences in reading outcomes, we are acting as anti-racists. BASD’s anti-racist work also includes working with community partners to expand high-speed internet access for students in their homes, reinstating middle school intramurals to engage students in after-school activities, revising our Gifted and Talented program policies and procedures, increasing access to dual enrollment college courses, implementing seminar courses to support black and Latino students, and expanding our community school and mental health partnerships to bring more services to students and families.

Despite this good work, recent messages from current and former BASD students made me realize our anti-racism work is missing a larger picture. These black, white and Latino students are closely watching current events, and simply asked, “Why didn’t I learn about this in school?”

Of course, our curriculum covers the Constitution, slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights era. But we obviously fell short in educating these students on the deep-seated, wide-ranging and up-to-the-present consequences of racism.

BASD’s anti-racist work focuses primarily on supporting black and Latino students in overcoming the barriers they face as a result of racism. Like a doctor bandaging a wound, this work is important and necessary, but it is insufficient.

If we do not end the cause of the wound, we are always bandaging but never truly healing. We need to leverage education to end the cause of that wound. We need to educate for anti-racism.

Education’s most enduring contribution to ending racism must be to explicitly teach all students about the origins and continuation of racism. BASD students attend classes with a wonderful range of diverse races, cultures and languages. They are comfortable with differences between people in a way previous generations never were.

But our curriculum needs to expose our students to the history and horrors of racism. Nor have we done enough to teach the scientific, cultural and artistic contributions of black and Latino Americans.

In order to cure the disease of racism, we need all of our students to understand the impact of racism on society so they are prepared to live their lives as anti-racists. White students can be informed anti-racist allies of their Latino and black brothers and sisters.

When white Americans become anti-racists, the culture of white advantage, white supremacy and racial inequities will change.

As our country stands in yet another crossroads about racism and the role of policing in society, BASD commits to taking the following actions.

    • At the start of school, we will harness our students’ interest in and concerns about what they are now witnessing and teach for a deeper understanding of the historical context of present-day racism and social justice protests.
    • We will reform secondary American history courses to honestly and accurately include the realities of racism, the progress we have made and the long, difficult road that lies ahead. Our literature selections will continue to expand diverse authors and cultures. In order to move our country forward, we must educate students to become truly anti-racist.
    • We will undertake a review of the purpose, rationale and outcomes of our School Resource Officer program.
    • We will continue our ongoing equity and diversity work through Restorative Listening Circles, Trauma Informed Schools and Restorative Practices.

A well-educated citizenry is the goal of public education and the foundation of a democratic society. It’s well past time that we recognize citizens cannot be “well-educated” without learning why they must be anti-racists.

Our goal is that no BASD student ever asks again, “Why wasn’t I taught about this?”

Comments on parklets

Gadfly,

It’s nice to see people returning to our downtown and dining outdoors. It would be even nicer if two other things were done. I enjoyed the ambiance of this with a friend on her birthday this past Wednesday at the Apollo. However, between cars driving past blasting music and other bikers and cars revving their engines and using loud mufflers to impress us, it became difficult at times to converse between ourselves and with wait staff. A little old-fashioned law enforcement including issuing citations would set the tone for a peaceful downtown where quality of life and peace and quiet are embraced and not denigrated by inconsiderate drivers by. Stop both of these and you will have a much more enjoyable experience!

Dana Grubb

———–

Gadfly:

A couple of unrelated thoughts on parklets:

I especially like the one on Main Street where they used planters to create the separation/protection barrier! (They should extend this or similar approaches to the others.)

They should close Adams from Columbia to Morton, leaving one lane open (for residents only) between 4th & Morton. There may be other opportunities to extend the areas so they are more usable. Extended areas also facilitate distancing. (The restaurant on W 4th has tables so close there is no effective distancing; the health department should alert them to safe practices.)

Note: Many of these aren’t really “parklets” — if a space is reserved for patrons of a particular establishment, it wouldn’t be a parklet, which is a small park, by definition a public space.

Peter Crownfield

City hits home run with new parklets, so let’s do it again

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“I was really ‘Wow!’ and Bravo! — well done!”
Councilwoman Negron

“One extra thing that makes Bethlehem such a beautiful place to visit.”
Councilman Callahan

(Can’t find a photo of the parklets with the city planters — anyone?)

At last City Council kudos were spread around to Alicia Karner, Michael Alkhal, and the City gang for the street planters beautifying and safety-fying outdoor dining — and thus helping our business community.

The Mayor and others are thinking of doing this again next year and even annually in the post-pandemic age. Far out!

Mayor Donchez:

Councilman Callahan:

Councilwoman Negron:

Other good news:

1) City Hall is open.

2) Fireworks on July 4th

“This guy just doesn’t get it”

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Breena Holland is an Associate Professor at Lehigh University in the Department of Political Science and the Environmental Initiative. She is a past director of Lehigh University’s South Side Initiative.

Gadfly,

You raise important questions. You are also kind for not pointing out the parts of Mr. Audelo’s comments that I personally found offensive and insensitive, such as referencing charitable work by the BPD as evidence that there are not significant problems of racism and racial insensitivity in the BPD, and referencing the prevalence of crime in areas where low-income POC live as a reason justifying why police officers might engage in behavior that some of us think looks a lot like racial profiling. And what precisely is so ironic about the “Brown and White” newspaper covering a story on what you are referring to as racial insensitivity? But setting all that aside, I am mostly writing to say that I don’t think everything problematic about the incident Mr. Audelo was discussing is available on the bodycam footage. In particular, I recall the aggressive refusal of the police officer to take the operator back to his car after wrongly accusing him of evading an immigration warrant, and consequently dragging him into the police station. I’m really happy I was not someone who actually needed the help of the police while they were so diligently working to root out illegal immigrants in my community.

More generally, the defensive nature of Mr. Audelo’s comments are precisely what makes people like me — who are not the victims of police violence and insensitivity no matter how many times we roll through stop signs — think there is something wrong with how we accomplish public safety in this country. Why would someone have any reason to come forward to report an instance of insensitivity or profiling if there is such a refusal to acknowledge the problem? It’s hard for me to watch this and think anything except, “this guy just doesn’t get it.” I’m grateful to all the officers who treat people better than the operator claims he was treated, and I think all those officers would be better served by a discussion of this that didn’t just attack others for lying and then ask us to trust that he is telling the truth even though we can’t see any of the evidence. How about submitting the bodycam footage to an independent panel comprised of people who we can trust are genuinely interested in the treatment of people of color? The words of Mr. Audelo — whose job it is to protect police officers — hardly counts as the kind of independence called for in these and similar situations. His reaction is just confirming the nature of the problem we have here in Bethlehem. I hope ALL of our elected officials are starting to see it, and that they will also start to think about what they can do to listen to the people who have something to lose in talking about it.

The FOP president defends his officer

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“Marijuana mayhem: Bethlehem struggles with decriminalization implementation,” Brown and White, Lehigh University, February 23/March 4, 2020.

Officer William Audelo, head of the Bethlehem Fraternal Order of Police, addressed City Council at the beginning of the June 16, 2020, meeting.

Audelo’s 9-minute address was very forceful. You must listen.

Audelo’s address was broken into two parts: 1) a specific response to the possibility that there was a racial issue surrounding a traffic stop, and 2) a general response to the quality of the relationship between the police department and the community.

Gadfly would like to look at each part individually, beginning with the approximately 4-5 minutes addressing the traffic stop. He will look at the other part in a subsequent post.

———-

Officer Audelo said he was responding to June 3 allegations of racial profiling (physical and verbal misconduct) by Councilwomen Van Wirt and Negron about a September 11, 2019, traffic stop of an Hispanic man at 6th and Hayes. Followers will recognize that Gadfly has been troubled about the way this stop was handled and has written extensively about it (go to Police under Topics on the right-hand sidebar and scroll back to February and March). Officer Audelo referenced the Lehigh University Brown and White article of February 23/March 4 linked above as the source of the public controversy over this event.

Almost all the material in the Brown and White article is familiar to Gadfly and has been reported to you here in the past. Except a quote attributed to the operator: “(The officer) was aggressive and rough with me,” [the operator] said. “I was thinking of my son, I was thinking of my wife . . . I’ve never had any situation with any police officer, never been in any trouble here. It was a very bad experience.” I don’t remember seeing that quote before, and the Brown and White does not give its source. (Parenthetically, would you agree that we’ve heard these words dozens of times in reports of minority residents stopped by police?)

Let’s listen. You must listen. Gadfly says always go to the primary source. Form your own opinion.

“I am here today to say publicly that the allegations concocted by this male are not only false but a work of fiction. The Brown and White article . . . was based on a lie. An article on the world being flat would have been more accurate than the account between that gentleman and our officer. The insinuation that the traffic stop was based on the male’s race was absurd. The officer was parked monitoring an intersection from about seventy-five yards away with no street lights. When the male very clearly drew (?) through the stop sign, it would have been impossible for anyone to determine the race of the driver. I understand that those who rallied to the gentleman’s story had their hearts in the right place. But they were duped. In fact, the most serious policy violation was when the officer offered to park the man’s vehicle so it would not be towed. The officer did park the male’s vehicle — I don’t believe anyone here would like to see him punished for it. The male who lives in West Bethlehem told the officer he was just going for a drive and for some reason just decided to drive the back streets of the Yosko Park area, one of our highest crime areas, with burnt blunts under his seat. During the interaction the officer was alerted to an immigration warrant for someone with the male’s name and even the same scar on his wrist. During the entire interaction between the police and the male, the officer was professional, polite, and treated the male with the same dignity and respect that I would expect my family to be treated with. This allegation came as a surprise to many of us because the involved officer is one of our finest. The officer just finished three months of field training with one of our newest hires, who was a proud Puerto Rican born American. And I am aware what occurred during this training because I was the training sergeant responsible. . . . When the involved officer was hired, he was also trained by a minority. I know for a fact that he was trained to respect every one of our residents because I trained him. And, you see, I’m the first-born son of a man who came to this country illegally from Mexico. . . . I know what it means to come from nothing, and I know never to underestimate the struggles of a stranger. For these reason I find myself so angry that the man would fabricate this story and pass it off as true. . . . Personally, I believe the man should be arrested for false reports to law enforcement. There is overwhelming evidence to convict him. I can assure you that if this was another person that did not have the political backing and proceeded to accuse someone of a crime, there would have been charges. Tonight I respectfully request that we work together to rectify this situation. As you know, police officers in our city wear body cameras as well as dash cams. While I don’t have the authority to release the footage, I can assure you any concerns regarding the incident can be found in the footage. If you have the opportunity to watch the video and find no issues with the officer’s conduct, I ask that you publicly rescind the allegations of racial profiling by the officer. I ask that you condemn the man who made the allegation.”

Let me make two preliminary observations:

  • To Gadfly, the issue was never racial profiling but “racial insensitivity.” Not using race as a pretext for making a stop but racially insensitive behavior during the stop. Officer Audelo addresses both profiling and insensitivity, but to Gadfly the latter possibility was the key one.
  • Officer Audelo indicates the operator has made charges and allegations and wishes him condemned for lying and fabrication. Gadfly is not aware that it is so that the operator has made charges and allegations. As far as Gadfly knows, this situation became public only after the operator talked to the judge who then discussed it with the arresting officer — and this was approximately six weeks after the incident. As far as Gadfly knows, the operator never made a direct charge or allegation. Since the City shut down inquiry, Gadfly can not even be sure that the operator was interviewed as a result of the internal investigation. If the operator himself made charges and allegations, when and where did they occur? The judge, however, did make a formal complaint against the officers. That’s the judge who did that not the operator and not even on the operator’s behalf. But Officer Audelo is not aiming his condemnation at the judge. But even in his complaint letter to the Mayor of December 20, the judge is measured in his approach, saying he’s “not in a position to verify whether this officer engaged in racial profiling or ethnic intimidation.” Gadfly is quite troubled by what seems to him to be misfiring by Officer Audelo and would like to be straightened out.

Now, to make a long story short (or try to), the key point in Officer Audelo’s statement is his claim of what can be found in the videos: “I can assure you any concerns regarding the incident can be [resolved] in the footage.” 

Videos we can’t see.

Everything else is beside the point. Officer Audelo’s comments on the officer’s past record and his prior training mean nothing to the resolution of the controversy here. Officer Audelo’s comments on his personal and family history mean nothing to the resolution of the controversy here.

All beside the point.

Blowin’ smoke.

Resolution rests on the videos. That simple.

Precisely the point of Councilwoman Negron’s comments at Tuesday’s Council meeting and explored in Gadfly’s previous post.

Let’s look at key points the videos might/would resolve:

  • The operator says he was on New St. when he noticed he was being followed by police, causing him to detour a bit into a high crime area. Officer Audelo says the arresting officer was parked “monitoring” an intersection. Who is right? Were there cameras on?
  • The operator says, “(The officer) was aggressive and rough with me.” Officer Audelo says, “the officer was professional, polite, and treated the male with the same dignity and respect that I would expect my family to be treated with.” Let’s see the tape, and we’ll make our own judgments.
  • Officer Audelo says the operator has the “same scar” as on the immigration warrant. Gadfly was led to believe the operator had no scar. Let’s see the tape in which the officer verified the scar. We should be able to see the scar.
  • The operator indicated that he didn’t give consent for the search. The police report describes a “consent search.” Let’s see that interaction. Gadfly understands (he just plays a lawyer on the blog!) that there are certain conditions that permit a search. Let’s see the reason given for the request to search. There is none on the police report.
  • Did the officer park the operator’s car? There’s disagreement on that. Let’s see the tape.

“Tonight I respectfully request that we work together to rectify this situation” of a false report against a police officer, says Officer Audelo.

How in god’s good name can Officer Audelo expect that to happen without the video evidence that he sees but City Council can’t.

Doesn’t make sense.

Officer Audelo, respectfully, you don’t make good sense here.

Do you not see the problem too?

Councilwoman Negron has said she would apologize for doubting. Gadfly has said that too. He bets even the judge would jump on the apology train.

And we would take the operator behind the barn and verbally thrash him.

If video evidence showed proper police behavior.

Something has to be done.

As indicated above, Gadfly will comment on the rest of Officer Audelo’s address in a subsequent post.

Impressive Climate Action Plan webinar

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Gadfly:

I attended the [Climate Action Plan] webinar yesterday [Wednesday] at noon and was very impressed with the thoroughness of the presentation (and the presenters).

The first portion clearly elucidated the factual evidence that the climate is warming at a rapid rate, that human activity is the primary cause, that we can document the changes that are already occurring, and that the future effects will be even more dramatic: no winter sports in PA (Bethlehem’s climate will be like that of Richmond, VA, today); more ticks and other disease-bearing pests; loss of some agricultural crops (like apples); more heavy rainstorms and thus flooding.

That the team is serious about creating an action plan to decrease the worst-case scenarios if we do nothing to minimize the negative effects of global warming that we are stuck with and to delineating means for us to adjust and be resilient to the effects we cannot minimize was very clear.

They are interested in including ALL aspects of the Bethlehem community (I guess except for those who deny the obvious science-based conclusions) in both creating the plan and carrying it out.

Is the process slow and somewhat cumbersome? Yes, it is, but it also seeks to emerge with the greatest chances of successful implementation because of the broad input.

I look forward to the next steps and applaud my community for taking such an important step!

J. D. Smullen

Some further questions about the use of force policy

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Peter Crownfield is officially retired but spends most of his time working with students in his role as internship coordinator for the Alliance for Sustainable Communities–Lehigh Valley.

Paul Muschick, “Amid calls for police reform, Bethlehem police went beyond call of duty.” Morning Call, June 19, 2020.

Gadfly:

Kudos to BPD for releasing this! [The use of force policy] As I said before, it is, in my opinion, better than some others I have seen. It does however raise some questions.

The document lists chemical weapons, impact weapons, and electronic control devices as “intermediate weapons” in the continuum, but while these are usually not lethal, all can be lethal for some people under some conditions. There are many documented cases of serious injury from “less-lethal” weapons tear gas & pepper spray, from “flash-bang” devices, and from tasers

It’s not clear from this document whether BPD has or is prepared to use “rubber bullets” that we have seen used this month by police in some cities. (These are usually steel coated with rubber or plastic.) These too have caused many serious injuries (such as permanent blindness and brain injury) and some fatalities.

I won’t go into detail here, but I assume all officers are trained to recognize how these “less-lethal” weapons can in fact cause permanent and sometimes fatal injury even if used properly.

There is also the question as to when some provisions are added. BPD should also release the previous version and show when it was modified.

Peter

Regarding the last point, this is the second time Peter has made it. What is he getting at? The Muschick article linked above says the policies are reviewed annually.

“Communication doesn’t seem to be as important as it really should”

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Gadfly loves your voices.

An important thing that Gadfly has tried to do is amplify and disseminate citizen comments, to give them more “hang time,” and thereby to provide models of participation, encouraging others to civic engagement.

In that respect, one of the casualties of the pandemic has been the shrinkage of citizen comment at City Council meetings. Council has provided us with the means to comment, but the numbers have dwindled.

But Gadfly would call your attention to the comments of Greg Zahm at last Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Please listen to the recording; don’t just scan Gadfly’s summary text. Hear the voice of the thoughtful, concerned resident. Gadfly misses being able to take and post close-up videos of such presentations to enhance the impact of such words on us.

1) Mr. Zahm asked the 6 questions that he asked of the Mayor and Council in a letter of June 3, a letter, he said, that has not been answered:

1) What are we doing in our city to insure justice, care, and protection of and from Ben Franklin’s “unaffected” — mentioned by Mayor Donchez — for our affected brothers and sisters who still suffer with incredible resilience?

2) What changes have been instituted since the last time we met after the violent death of a black man at the hands of the police in America?

3) What leadership messages are we sending based on our actions within and based on our direct communications with the outside, my point being that I really feel like communication is lacking?

4) Will you ask the affected what they need?

5) Will you identify the affected directly? As far as I am aware, they remain unnamed.

6) So what changes do the City leadership recommend now on behalf of our very diverse family? And when will leadership speak with all of its people? . . . Something should have been said to the public much more broadly and loudly. I get the feeling the City has not expressed urgency on behalf of a large part of our family.

2) “Why were Councilman Colon and Councilwoman Negron not a party to that June 9 memo [of Councilmembers Reynolds and Crampsie Smith]? That’s a little shocking to me. Hopefully they were, but I’d like to hear that. Why doesn’t Council already have the requested information? Why is that information not already available to the public?”

3) “What does the City leadership have to say in response to the Bethlehem Gadfly post of Lehigh’s Ms. Breena Holland? She asked numerous questions regarding the treatment of Bethlehem citizens. I’d like to hear those questions answered publicly.”

4) “I’d like to know what minority candidates were considered for those positions [up for appointment at the meeting]. If for privacy reasons you can’t say who, of course, well how many were considered? How many resumes were received? I think this is a real serious issue. And how are they solicited resumes? And should these methods be reconsidered?”

“So ultimately probably the theme of this is communication. I’m really kind of stunned that while things are unfolding and still are that communication really doesn’t seem to be as important as it really should.”

Lot to chew on here from Mr. Zahm. As Gadfly said at the June 3 Council meeting, Mayor Donchez has a quiet style, he’s a quiet leader, but if too quiet, that can feel like non-leadership. Gadfly has several times expressed the wish that the Mayor would “step out” more — ha! Gadfly better watch what he wishes for! The issue of candidates for committees was raised vigorously by Councilwoman Van Wirt at the meeting, so look for a later post on that. Related to that issue, Gadfly has been thinking about the 2021 elections and hoping for minority candidates. “Communication” = same root word as “community,” Gadfly’s aphrodisiac word. Good stuff here.

Exterior decoration by Rodentia

logo The Gadfly invites “local color” photos of this sort logo

Everybody has a tame squirrel hanging around.

By the look of his Facebook page, Dana Grubb has a whole menagerie.

My Sciuridae domesticus persists in rearranging my flowers.

He’s neat.

I just wish I could understand his design philosophy.

     before                                after

The Gadfly

Should the public have access to police body cam and dashboard cam footage?

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Under new business at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Councilwoman Negron asked this interesting question related to the ongoing discussion of police procedures in the wake of the shootings of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks. The Mayor promised a response to Councilwoman Negron the following day. Gadfly hopes she will share it with us.

  • We’ve had improvements with cameras, both dashboard and body cams.
  • But how is that really helping the citizens?
  • Is there a process by which a citizen can request the footage when they have been stopped?
  • I would like to see the footage of a few individuals who have been stopped and told me bad stories.
  • If what I have been told is a lie, I would be the first to apologize.
  • But I have heard too many stories otherwise, and we need a mechanism, a right-to-know request or something, that would be a better fix for both the officer and the subject.
  • Just like we can request a police report for a car accident, we need to be able to request the footage.
  • As a Councilperson, I hear stories, and I would like to see if what the people are saying is true. It would hold them accountable. Are they lying to me? It would hold the officer accountable too.

Gadfly finds this question of access to police videos very interesting.

Councilwoman Negron hears a lot of stories about police/resident interaction. She’s trusted. Gadfly imagines her as a giant ear into which all of the anguish on the Southside pours. Not an enviable position.

It probably does not surprise you that Gadfly hears a decent amount about police/resident interaction too. Comes with the territory. But the stories kind of paralyze him. The people will not come forward. What do they expect him to do? Publishing one side of an event makes him feel very uneasy. And, frankly, he leans toward trusting the police.

As followers might remember, Gadfly did get his shorts in a bunch over the traffic stop of an Hispanic man on September 11, 2019, at 6th and Hayes — a stop that made blog news in February and March after the arresting officer felt that the local judge was accusing him of being a racist. One thing that bothered Gadfly was what seemed to be the Chief’s premature action in supporting the officer without interaction with the complainant (who was not the subject of the stop) and, in return, accusing the complainant of unethical behavior to his superior.  It turned out that significantly later the officer was cleared in an internal investigation based mainly on camera evidence. The question naturally and logically followed about why the Chief did not cite that camera footage immediately to the local judge and his superior, offer to review it, and have a conversation about whether there was any racially insensitive behavior on the part of the officer — and thus perhaps totally avoid the ugly brouhaha that ensued. It seemed like a game of I have the evidence, you don’t, and I’m not going to show it to you. Fair? It may be beside the point now, but the letter about this matter hand-delivered by the judge/complainant to the Mayor and City Council on December 23, 2019, has, as far as Gadfly knows, not received either acknowledgment or response.

Relative to Councilwoman Negron’s point, there was camera footage, and it was only available to one side.

Now at the very beginning of the Tuesday City Council meeting, Officer William Audelo made a long and passionate statement. Gadfly will post about this shortly. Gadfly is not quite sure at this time if Officer Audelo was referring to the same case mentioned above, but he was angry and frustrated at allegations against an officer. Gadfly needs to and will refresh himself on the Officer’s statement, as well as provide it to you for your own judgment, but, as he remembers it, Officer Audelo says he has seen video and if we could see the video we would see how wrong the charges are.

Yes. Councilwoman Negron’s point exactly. And Gadfly agrees with her that he would be the first one to say sorry and even do penance (Catholic upbringing!) if shown that evidence so compelling to others. But, cloaked in secrecy as the handling of that case was, there was no closure. There could be no trust.

Is there a fair way to stop this game of we’ve got the evidence and you don’t? This game of “Trust us.”

Good question, Councilwoman.

to be continued . . .

Bethlehem, first Lehigh Valley city to post police use-of-force policy

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Memo to Councilpersons Reynolds and Crampsie Smith
BPD-Directive-3-1-1-Use-of-Force

We knew this already. Gadfly will be posting more on this topic from Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

from Christina Tatu, “Bethlehem Police Department becomes first in Lehigh Valley to release its full use-of-force policy.” Morning Call, June17, 2020.

Bethlehem took the unusual step of posting on its website an unredacted version of the police department’s use-of-force policy Wednesday, becoming the first of the Lehigh Valley’s cities to do so.

The city released the 12-page policy a week after police Chief Mark DiLuzio provided a heavily redacted version to The Morning Call. He said then that making the full policy public “would compromise the safety of individual officers and the public and make it easier for criminals to elude prosecution.”

The city released the policy along with a response to a memo Councilman J. William Reynolds and Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith sent to DiLuzio last week, asking for details about the use-of-force policy and officer training requirements.

Reynolds and Crampsie Smith also have proposed a community engagement initiative involving residents, police officers, school representatives and social justice organizations.

“Up until this point, no one really asked for the policy,” DiLuzio said Wednesday. “It was always there. We have hundreds of policies. It’s a good use-of-force policy. We update it every year.”

In the memo, DiLuzio, Deputy Chief Scott Meixell and Mayor Robert Donchez acknowledged that while no policy is perfect, they believe the department’s use-of-force policy exceeds standards.

It already includes the recommendations in the “8 Can’t Wait” campaign, which are points reformers have asked departments across the country to adopt, including: banning chokeholds, requiring de-escalation techniques, warning suspects before firing, using alternatives to guns, and requiring officers to intervene when force is inappropriately applied.

Bethlehem’s policy instructs officers to use “the amount of force that is necessary and reasonable to effect the arrest.” It notes that in some cases, a tactical retreat may be a better option.

“It is not the intent of this policy to require officers to attempt to exhaust each force level before moving to the next so long as the level of force used is necessary and reasonable under the circumstances,” it reads.

An officer should consider deadly force, the policy says, only when it’s reasonable to believe it is necessary to protect an officer or another person from imminent danger or death. It says imminent danger may exist when an officer has “probable cause to believe” a suspect has a weapon. The policy notes, “A subject may pose an imminent danger even if he is not at that very moment pointing a weapon at the officer.”

It explains that among the things officers have to consider before using force — such as a gun or Taser, chemical agents like tear gas, or a K-9 — are: the seriousness of the crime; the subject’s age, size, weight, medical condition and mental state; and whether the subject can be recaptured at a later time.

Officers are not permitted to use deadly force if there is a reasonable alternative that will avert the danger. They also can’t use it to subdue someone whose actions are only destructive to property or only injurious to themselves.

In Bethlehem, officers are responsible to speak up if they see a fellow officer violating the use-of-force policy, and they are required to intervene to keep an officer from misapplying force.

In the redacted version Bethlehem police provided last week, sections were blacked out on justification for use of force, the use-of-force model, levels of resistance and control, use-of-force considerations, use of deadly force and restrictions on use of deadly force — seven of the report’s 10 sections.

Reynolds thanked DiLuzio and the city’s administration during a City Council meeting Tuesday night for sharing the department’s use-of-force policy.

“I do think this is the time for a much bigger conversation,” Reynolds said, adding that he and Crampsie Smith have heard from people in the community asking for a public conversation about local policing and how to prevent issues of racial discrimination.

Councilman Michael Colon is organizing a forum for the city’s next Public Safety Committee meeting. The event will be held at Liberty High School, but a date has yet to be chosen, he said. It will likely be held within the next two weeks.

Esther Lee, the longtime president of the Bethlehem NAACP, said she had not personally been informed of the meeting but that her group, at the recommendation of the National NAACP, set up its own meeting with city officials and police officers earlier this week.

The first public meeting on the Climate Action Plan

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Bethlehem’s Climate Action Plan
BethlehemCAP.org

CITY OF BETHLEHEM
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PLAN FOR CLIMATE ACTION PLAN DEVELOPMENT

Pandemic — George Floyd — Rayshard Brooks — Global Warming

So many crises buffeting us these days. Shell-shocking. Easy to lose sight of the two virtual public meetings hosted yesterday by Bethlehem-based engineering firm WSP and science-based community center Nurture Nature Center (NNC), located in Easton, who were selected as consultants to develop the Bethlehem Climate Action Plan. We expect that the slides from yesterday’s meetings and perhaps some audio/video will eventually be available on the Bethlehem CAP web site.

CAP 2

WSP will lead the CAP project and provide world-class subject-matter climate and engineering expertise. WSP is the subject-matter expert. WSP will work with NNC to advise the City on strategies related to communicating progress with the project process and gathering public input. NNC will develop engagement strategies. NNC looks like the communication expert. Public engagement seems to be a key element in the development of the CAP.

CAP 3

According to the tentative schedule (already modified) the final CAP is due during the first quarter of 2021. Looks like the first meeting of the working group (CAP WG) has already occurred. At least two more public meetings are planned.

CAP 4

As mentioned above, we hope that some audio/video from the public meetings will eventually be provided on the Bethlehem CAP web site. But, for now, your technologically challenged Gadfly can only provide this awful audio of the meeting hosts describing the “What is in a  Climate Action Plan?” slide above. You will need to vacuum out your ear wax, turn your speaker to 100%, and glue yourself to the speaker. The sound gets a little better after the first minute or two but not much. On the other hand, you might want to just skip the whole damn lousy audio. Sorry.

Gadfly would love to hear from people who are actively involved in the climate movement and, especially, who attended the virtual meeting. Those who attended the meeting might tell us what they contributed to the discussion section of the session.

He knows you’re out there!

Tip o’ the hat to Councilman Reynolds, the Environmental Advisory Council, Mayor Hatlo 2Donchez, Michael Alkhal, and, of course, many others on the City staff for getting us to this significant point.

Council follows up on the Mayor’s report

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The Mayor’s response to the R/CS memo at City Council last night generated this response from Council members. The Chief again feels confident in his department policies, reiterates belief that the criminal justice system needs reform, is all-in to cooperate with Council, and affirms getting back to community policing.

Councilman Reynolds elaborates a bit on the Community Engagement Initiative and distinguishes it from the just previously announced Citizen Advisory Committee with the NAACP.

Chief Diluzio (min. 0:30):

  • Most of the stuff we already do.
  • Everything is documented.
  • Do we have issues, and can reform help us? I think reform can help every police department in the country. Criminal justice reform can go around this country and we need it.
  • We have an out-dated criminal justice system.
  • Is there racism in it? Yeah, there is also racism in every type of occupation.
  • If we’re going to do this, let’s do it correctly. Let’s put everything on the table. And let’s look at it and do it right.
  • The 8 things in 8 Can’t wait — honestly, I support all of them.

Councilman Reynolds (min 3:30):

  • I’m happy to hear that the Mayor talked about his advisory council, but I do think that this is time for a much bigger conversation.
  • The idea of the Community Engagement initiative is that we need to expand these conversations.
  • What we’re hearing  . . . is that people want a public space for this conversation . . . a consistent public space for discussion and action items on systemic racism, discrimination, and social justice.
  • We also need to have discussion about prioritization of the allocation of resources within the police department.
  • [prior plan to take one police slot and use that money for community engagement]
  • We need to listen, we need to provide space for the different groups in our community to have that opportunity for discussion.
  • I also think there should be some public conversation within this initiative about organizing these non-enforcement events in neighborhood communities.
  • I’m not sure . . . that everybody in the police department buys into the values of these non-enforcement, trust-building activities.
  • Not only could you, but you should have employees in your police department that are not traditional police officers.
  • We need to look at how we are organizing law enforcement.
  • I think it’s more powerful if we have monthly, regular get-togethers . . . not just the leadership, the rank-and-file.
  • The power that we have in City Council is to help set the structure and space in which these groups have a voice, and that’s what the Community Engagement Initiative is about.
  • [Look for a resolution at the upcoming Public Safety meeting.]
  • We’re the ones who set the budget, we’re the ones who allocate the resources . . . and there is a lot of room here . . . for discussion about how we are spending this money.

Chief DiLuzio (min. 9:36):

  • I think community policing is very important. Community policing . . . is what we should be getting back to in this country.
  • Police, social services — everyone needs to be involved.

Councilman Reynolds:

  • It’s not just the idea of community policing, though, it’s also about teaching our police officers about the intersection of all of these different issues.
  • Part of the challenge is getting buy-in from everybody in our police department.

Councilwoman Crampsie Smith (min. 11:00):

  • I’ve seen how policing has evolved . . . My dad was a true community police officer . . . Those days are gone in many ways. And we really need to get back to some level of community policing.
  • The people of Bethlehem have spoken . . . We need change.
  • [converses with the Chief on the force directives: choke holds, duty to intervene, training]
  • Systemic racism does exist.
  •  . . . giving the community a voice, because that is the right and necessary thing to do.

Councilwoman Van Wirt (min. 25:15):

  • How is the Civil Service Board involved in complaints a gains officers?

Councilman Callahan (min. 26:35, transmission lost at end)

  • Racism is everywhere.
  • Small percentage of officers out of line.
  • We can be very proud of our police department.
  • [culture shift, teachers can’t touch students, same being applied to police]
  • Police departments have become more weaponized.
  • [Police have a right to defend themselves, but what happened in Atlanta not right.]

Councilman Callahan repeated his remarks later in the meeting under new business, and they can be heard better here:

The Mayor responds to the Reynolds/Crampsie Smith memo, announces plan for Citizen Advisory Committee with the NAACP

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We have been interested in the City’s response to the Reynolds/Crampsie Smith Use of Force Directives and Community Engagement Initiative memo to Chief DiLuzio.

The Mayor’s response last night was very positive. The City’s response memo to City Council along with many department policies will be available today on the City website, and Gadfly will alert you when that happens.

The Mayor also reported on a meeting with the NAACP in which it was decided to establish a Citizen Advisory Committee comprised of community leaders to discuss community issues. Look for a press release on that next week. Gadfly is not sure how this CAC meshes with the R/CS proposal for a Community Engagement Initiative.

  • Bethlehem Police Department is a highly trained, very professional department.
  • The Hirko case [see the previous Bethlehem Moment post] was a turning point in Bethlehem’s history with the police department. It made the Bethlehem Police Department evaluate itself, and many of the recommendations that came from that event have been incorporated along with state and national accreditation.
  • But we do not intend this as a statement that there are no deficiencies, that every officer performs at all times with perfection.
  • You can always get better, and we’re trying to strive to get better.
  • Many of the elements we are talking about we have incorporated because of that event [the Hirko case].
  • I have issued a directive . . . to review all the policies and to make as much public as possible [including the use of force policy].
  • We are trying to put as much information as we can on the web site.
  • We certainly want to work with City Council as we move forward, having a dialogue.

There’s a lot going on in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing, so look for further posts on last night’s City Council meeting shortly.

Bethlehem Moment: A Drug Bust Goes Bad

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Bethlehem Moment 25
City Council
June 16, 2020

Edward J. Gallagher
49 W. Greenwich St.

Bethlehem Moment: April 23, 1997

A Drug Bust Goes Bad

After prior investigation and working with a confidential informant, at approximately 11PM on April 23, 1997, a group of about a half-dozen Bethlehem Police officers attempted to exercise a search warrant at a house on the Southside in which lived a suspected drug dealer, known to be armed, and his girlfriend.

Here are the skeletal facts:

Officers 1 and 2 were in the front of the house, the rest of the officers in the rear.

Officer 2 opened a front window, and officer 1 threw into the living room a flash-bang distraction device that immediately and unexpectedly started a fast-moving fire. Hirko 3

Officer 1 entered the house and shot the suspect as he was starting to move up the steps to the 2nd floor. Officer 1, using what is described as a “submachine gun” (shown here testifying at the trial), fired approximately 16 shots, 11 hitting the suspect, all in the back.

The suspect’s girlfriend was on the 2nd floor, saw the suspect on the steps, and exited the fiery house through a window.

The suspect died from the gunshot wounds, and his body was burned beyond recognition in the fire that rendered the house a total loss.

Questions about the way police handled this event arose at once.

The Pennsylvania state police and the Attorney General’s office investigated and in September 1997, 5 months after the event, cleared the police of any wrong doing.

The suspect’s family sued the City and the officers for breach of the suspect’s civil rights and for use of excessive force.

A central point of contention at trial was initial interaction between officer 1 and the suspect. Officer 1 said he shot at the suspect because the suspect shot at him. No shell casing from the suspect’s gun was found. The suspect’s girlfriend said she did not see him with a gun on the steps.

The civil suit against the City and the officers began September 2003, 6 1/2 years after the event.

The trial took 6 months, ending March 2004. The jury deliberated 9 days.

The jury told the judge they were deadlocked at 10-2. Both sides agreed to waive the need for unanimity and to accept the 10-2 verdict whatever it was.

The verdict was guilty: officer 1 had violated the suspect’s civil rights by using excessive force, and the City failed to properly supervise the officers and had failed to create policies for the Emergency Response Team.

Rather than further deliberation before the jury and the prospect of years of appeals, both sides agreed to settle the case before the penalty phase of the trial was to begin.

The mutually agreed on terms of settlement were: 1) the City would pay $7.89m, 2) seek accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, 3) hire an independent consultant to make sure that the City’s police practices meet national standards, and 4) seek a grant to instruct officers in the constitutional rights of citizens.

A key to the settlement without further jury involvement was the City’s promise to seek outside help to improve the police force and the offer by Mayor Callahan, in office only two months, to meet privately with the plaintiffs and make an apology.

The police, however, did not apologize, and, in fact, officer 1 was given an “Award for Valor” by a police organization.

Interviewed afterward, the jurors said the suspect had a right to shoot — if, in fact, he did — because the police provoked the suspect to defend himself by storming in late at night without properly identifying themselves. Their verdict focused on civil rights, they said, not on whether the suspect was using or selling illegal drugs.

That was the sentiment of most public comment reported in the Morning Call. There was recognition that the suspect bore some blame for what happened to him, but the police were described as a bunch of ninja’s and as commando’s that took into their own hands the power to be judge, jury, and executioner.

The anti-climax to this long saga was a battle between the Mayor and City Council on how to fund the $7.89m payment. The Mayor advanced a plan, Council rejected it. Council put forth a plan, the Mayor vetoed it. And Council overrode the veto.

The City finally finished paying off the $7.89m judgment in 2015.

End of story.

But the point of this Bethlehem Moment is its relevance to our own cultural moment.

Here is an example from Bethlehem’s past when lack of proper oversight of the police department caused big trouble.

We recognize the dual accreditations that the department now enjoys in large part as a result of this event, and which the Chief told us about last meeting, but we also should not lose sight of the need for continual oversight of the police department and continual improvement of department policies, practices, training, and community involvement.

“Without a shared history, we are not a true community.”

Morning Call articles

April 25, 1997: “Gunshots killed man in drug raid”

September 17, 1997: “Bethlehem police cleared in death”

September 17, 2003: “Hirko lawsuit too important to be frivolous”

January 4, 2004: “What happened at 629 Christian St.?”

March 4, 2004: “Hirko jury nails Bethlehem, police officer for deadly raid”

March 22, 2004: “Hirko settlement reached”

March 23, 2004: “Hirko deal: $8 million, reforms”

March 29, 2004: “Jurors: Hirko had right of defense”

March 22, 2005: “Year after Hirko settlement, Bethlehem police try reforms”

March 24, 2005: “Bethlehem police get credit for efforts to adhere to national police standards”