The Gadfly invites “local color” photos of this sort 
Brick sandwiches
Chris Gallagher
Month: June 2020
Everyone’s a little bit racist
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
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 1
For the fifteen or so years or so since I learned every word of this musical [“Avenue Q”] and was awoken to the fact that I have inherent racial biases with which I was raised, I haven’t been quite sure what to do with that information other than work actively to recognize when my decisions are made based on fact or on personal bias. I have also long believed that since I was born into a life of resources, stability, and privilege, that it is my responsibility to lift up others who have not had the advantages I’ve had, whether racial, economic, or educational. Again, when it comes down to how to do that, I feel like I’ve never been quite sure of the best course of action, though social equity is something I have tried to focus on supporting in my career path. But ultimately, I don’t consider myself to be very progressive, and I feel like I could be doing more good with my position of privilege.
The events of the past few weeks and months have been incredibly disturbing and have really shone a spotlight on the systemic racism in our country and biases baked into our law enforcement and criminal justice systems. On one hand, it has been horrifying simply to turn on the news; on the other hand, it has also been heartening to see the sheer scale of voices from communities of color and support from white allies calling for justice and accountability. When I “look for the helpers,” as Mister Rogers taught us to do, I see ways I can educate myself and work toward the change I want to see in the world.
Friends of mine have been sharing information online about how to contribute time, money, information, and physical presence in a variety of ways (and I will be providing a list of resources and ideas below and in the coming posts). One opportunity in particular that caught my eye was from my dear friend Kelly who is leading a discussion group on the book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. I signed up immediately.
One friend I told about this group was surprised that I signed up for it because she does not consider me to be a “fragile white person” – because, she told me, I do recognize my privilege and take steps to fight for social equity. I hope her assessment of me is accurate, but I also believe that we can all do better. And my goal in joining this group was to learn how I can better engage others in these types of conversations, particularly those who aren’t as willing as I am to talk about race.
Since we’re going down this path, I feel the need to say that I recognize it is not my place to speak for minorities. It is not my time to be center stage, but to be a good ally by supporting others’ voices and highlighting their experiences. However, I am becoming rapidly aware that many of us in the majority don’t know how to do that. I think that part of the problem with talking about race in America today is not only the fact that we aren’t taught how to talk about race, but that most of us don’t have the first idea of what it is like to be a minority. Therefore I’m going to go on a tangent about myself to demonstrate how little I understand about being a person of color in America…
[please continue on Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist, Part 1.]
Gadfly has recommended native Bethlehemite Steele’s blog before for her sustainability posts, but, you must admit, she’s taking on a timely but tricky subject here. Take a look.
Public needed at Climate Action Plan meeting Wednesday
The latest in a series of posts relating to the environment, Bethlehem’s Climate
Action Plan, and Bethlehem’s Environmental Advisory Council
Bethlehem Climate Action Plan Public Virtual Meeting
————–
from Christina Tatu, “Bethlehem asks for public’s input on Climate Action Plan.” June 15, 2020.
Once known for Bethlehem Steel, with its towering blast furnaces that sent plumes of smoke into the sky and a coating of ore dust into surrounding neighborhoods, Bethlehem has done a lot to clean up its image.
Over the last 15 years, the city has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 40%, and by the end of the year officials are hoping to have a climate action plan to make Bethlehem even more environmentally friendly. There will be two forums Wednesday to gather public input for the plan, which was proposed by Councilman J. William Reynolds in 2017.
When finished, the plan will outline policies the city can support to reduce its carbon footprint, or the amount of greenhouse gasses it produces that cause climate change. The plan will also analyze hazards the city could face from climate change, such as increased temperatures and flooding, and it will outline measures local businesses and residents can take to reduce their environmental impact.
Wednesday’s forums will include information about what the city has done to reduce emissions and will ask residents what they see as the most important goals going forward, said Jeffrey Irvine, a project director with WSP.
A group of stakeholders has also been discussing what the goals should be, Reynolds said. The group of about 50 includes members of the public, representatives from Moravian College and Lehigh University, local business owners and environmental proponents.
Proposals include encouraging restaurants to limit foam and plastic packaging with takeout orders and using local ingredients, said Lynn Rothman, chairwoman of Bethlehem’s Environmental Advisory Council, who is also a stakeholder.
The group also wants to see the city hire a sustainability officer to help implement any environmental policies that are developed.
Bethlehem City Council meeting tomorrow night Tuesday, June 16
Latest in a series of posts on City Government
Click for public comment instructions!
Our next City Council meeting — the “face” of Bethlehem City government — occurs tomorrow night Tuesday, June 16, at 7PM.
The meeting is closed to the public, of course, because of the coronavirus.
The meeting can be viewed LIVE or later at your convenience on the City’s website after the meeting at https://www.bethlehem-pa.gov/Calendar.
The YouTube channel for live or archive viewing is “City of Bethlehem Council.”
Note well: though the meeting is “virtual,” we still enjoy public comment. See the link above for instructions. Let’s take advantage of the opportunity offered.
Find the Council agenda and supporting documents here.
Of especial interest, no doubt, will be discussion of the Reynolds/Crampsie Smith memo to Chief DiLuzio that we have been discussing here for the last week.
And Gadfly assumes we’ll have another update on the coronavirus situation.
And there’s always the unexpected.
As long as he has flutter in his wings, Gadfly urges “attending” City Council.
Participate. Be informed.
Mo takes a knee
The Gadfly invites “local color” photos of this sort
Amos, Moravian’s mascot, properly masked, practices physical distancing
while protesting.
Ron Yoshida
Other aspects need to be explored
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing 
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.
Gadfly:
I think the reporters did a very good job with this, although there are still some aspects that need to be explored, including:
• Chief DiLuzio’s justification for saying that an unredacted use-of-force policy put police officers or the public at risk — surely he must know that these are public in many cities throughout the US. [see useofforceproject.org] And he must realize that lack of transparency runs counter to some of the fundamental principles of a democratic society.
• Even where departmental policies are good, there have been many cases where individual police officers failed to follow them — and where fellow officers fail to intervene or even report them. (Sometimes, this seems to be based on a “thin blue line” mentality and/or knowing that it wouldn’t sit well with the higher-ranking officers.)
• The terms “reform” and “defunding” seem to be misused in many conversations. Reform focuses on immediate changes that can reduce the amount of violence and bias in police forces, while defunding involves reducing police budgets *so the funds can be used, through modalities other than policing, to prevent and reduce the conditions that contribute to crime. (For a better understanding of this, one good source is Josie Duffy Rice at the Justice Collaborative.)
I hope the reporters will follow up on this, but it’s even more important that the city council (and officials in other jurisdictions pursue these questions.
Peter
Our police department learned from its mistakes, says the Chief
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
“We learn from our mistakes.”
Chief DiLuzio
June 3, 2020
The Chief was no doubt referring to this drug raid by City police on April 23, 1997, which ended with a man dead and a house burned down. The City was sued, found guilty, and fined $8m in damages — a giant sum only recently paid off.
As part of the court judgment, the City Police Department was required to review its policies, procedures, and tactics, which review and subsequent changes resulted in the unusual dual accreditation the department now enjoys and to which the Chief called attention at City Council June 3.
About the guilty verdict, the Morning Call in March 2004 would title an editorial: “Jury sends police a message.”
Message received according to the Chief.
Morning Call, April 25, 1997
Opposite the Cuomo plan, community engagement with a different goal
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
The Cuomo plan aims at reforming existing police departments (like the Reynolds/Crampsie Smith proposal apparently). The Minneapolis plan aims at transforming local public safety into something different than the current police force. In Minneapolis the City Council will lead a year-long engagement with the community aimed at coming up with something different entirely. Council is the driver here in this Minneapolis option, not the Mayor or the police. This is not what is envisioned in the Reynolds/Crampsie Smith proposal from what we can see of it now.
Minneapolis City Council resolution
approved unanimously
Declaring the intent to create a transformative new model for cultivating safety in our city.
Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved by The City Council of The City of Minneapolis:
That the City Council will commence a year long process of community engagement, research, and structural change to create a transformative new model for cultivating safety in our city.
Be It Further Resolved that the City Council will engage with every willing community member in Minneapolis, centering the voices of Black people, American Indian people, people of color, immigrants, victims of harm, and other stakeholders who have been historically marginalized or under-served by our present system. Together, we will identify what safety looks like for everyone.
Be It Further Resolved that the process will center the role of healing and reconciliation. The process will require healers, elders, youth, artists, and organizers to lead deep community engagement on race and public safety. We will work with local and national leaders on transformative justice in partnerships informed by the needs of every block in our city.
Be It Further Resolved that decades of police reform efforts have not created equitable public safety in our community, and our efforts to achieve transformative public safety will not be deterred by the inertia of existing institutions, contracts, and legislation.
Follower Deni Thurman-Eyer suggests we read this story.
Cuomo’s “New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative”
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
In Bethlehem, the Cuomo plan (see link and text below) would look like this. The Mayor convenes the Police Chief and a broad range of stakeholders (police officers, other law enforcement officials, community members from high incident areas especially, religious groups, non-profits, etc.) that considers anything and everything promoting public engagement and addressing racial bias for the purpose of creating a plan tailored to local needs that improves the police/community relationship, a plan that is offered to the general public for comment then presented to Council for passage into law. (In the Cuomo plan, if the town didn’t do that by April 1, 2021, it would forfeit state funding.)
Is this a model for the Reynolds/Crampsie Smith Community Engagement Initiative?
New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative
Governor Cuomo executive order
Each local government entity which has a police agency operating with police officers as defined under 1.20 of the criminal procedure law must perform a comprehensive review of current police force deployments, strategies, policies, procedures, and practices, and develop a plan to improve such deployments, strategies, policies, procedures, and practices, for the purposes of addressing the particular needs of the communities served by such police agency and promote community engagement to foster trust, fairness, and legitimacy, and to address any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color.
Each chief executive of such local government shall convene the head of the local police agency, and stakeholders in the community to develop such plan, which shall consider evidence-based policing strategies, including but not limited to, use of force policies, procedural justice; any studies addressing systemic racial bias or racial justice in policing; implicit bias awareness training; de-escalation training and practices; law enforcement assisted diversion programs; restorative justice practices; community-based outreach and conflict resolution; problem-oriented policing; hot spots policing; focused deterrence; crime prevention through environmental design; violence prevention and reduction interventions.
The political subdivision, in coordination with its police agency, must consult with stakeholders, including but not limited to membership and leadership of the local police force; members of the community, with emphasis in areas with high numbers of police and community interactions; interested non-profit and faith-based community groups; the local office of the district attorney; the local public defender; and local elected officials, and create a plan to adopt and implement the recommendations resulting from its review and consultation, including any modifications, modernizations, and innovations to its policing deployments, strategies, policies, procedures, and practices, tailored to the specific needs of the community and general promotion of improved police agency and community relationships based on trust, fairness, accountability, and transparency, and which seek to reduce any racial disparities in policing.
Such plan shall be offered for public comment to all citizens in the locality, and after consideration of such comments, shall be presented to the local legislative body in such political subdivision.
Follower Deni Thurman-Eyer suggests we read this story.
What I would do as Chief
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
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.
Gadfly:
(ref: “If you were Chief, what would you do?”)
I would immediately do some things that might help calm any doubts the public might have:
I would explain why earlier police killings of unarmed people were not worthy of comment. It’s easy to condemn and denounce such a blatantly criminal act as the Floyd killing, but there have been many others, and many reported incidents have involve Black, Brown, and Indigenous people.
I would let the public know why Bethlehem needs a higher ratio of police to population than the median for cities in this size range. (Approximately 19.7 sworn officers per 10K people here, compared to 15.6 for cities with populations of 50K–100K.)
I would ensure that if there are any allegations of police misconduct, they will be made public and reviewed both internally AND by a qualified person or commission outside the department. If there have been any such allegations over the preceding 2 calendar years, whether reported formally or informally, I would also make a public report including a description of the findings.
I would establish a firm policy of not cooperating with ICE or other federal authorities unless there is a court-issued warrant (signed by a judge, not an administrative official).
Only then would I start looking at what processes might help strengthen and develop relationships with the entire community, especially poor and minority residents. Since this is not an area where the police have expertise, I would start by discussing possibilities with knowledgeable people and community groups who might be able to help develop an effective process.
Peter
Follower Deni Thurman-Eyer suggests we read this story.
How would you characterize the relationship between the police and the community?
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
In announcing his “New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative,” Governor Cuomo said, “There is no trust between the community and the police.”
How would you characterize the relationship between our police and our community?
Use specific examples, the prof says.
Gadfly wants to think of Bethlehem as “Capra-esque.” He wants to look at our town through the fantasy lens of Norman Rockwell paintings. You’ve heard him say that. And probably laughed.
But he sometimes hears dark mutterings, especially about the doings on the Southside.
Stories that are shadowy not sunlit. They don’t feel to him like “data.”
At Council last time we heard of messages flooding official in-boxes.
But those messages he saw seemed related to the wider issues of racism and violence and/or without concrete hometown situations, incidents, problems.
Frankly, Gadfly doesn’t know how to think about the relationship between our police and our community.
He needs help.
The Reynolds/Crampsie Smith memo says “many residents feel that the level of trust is still lacking.”
Who? Why? How?
Gadfly has a hard time judging the basis and depth of the mis-trust without stories.
Use specific examples, please, the prof says.
Gadfly does know that the one recent incident he did hear details about, the September 2019 traffic stop at 6th and Hayes involving an Hispanic operator, sounded precisely like an incident that could blow up and might just be the tip of an iceberg. Thus, his dissatisfaction at the City’s response.
How would you characterize the relationship between our police and our community?
And on what basis do you do so?
The prof needs specific examples.
Follower Deni Thurman-Eyer suggests we read this story.
Impact of the Atlanta shooting on us?
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
The Friday night shooting of an African American man by a white police officer in Atlanta.
You’ve been following it on the news, I’m sure.
Horrible in its own right.
But Gadfly would have you think about the timing for what’s going on in our town.
The City is to respond tomorrow to the memo from Councilmembers Reynolds and Crampsie Smith.
Gadfly bets a draft of that response existed before this shooting.
And wonders what impact the shooting will have on the final response.
And whether it has affected your thinking about how the City should be proceeding.
Gadfly has reviewed some of the available videos online and chosen these two. If followers have suggestions for other, better ones, please let him know.
Follower Deni Thurman-Eyer suggests we read this story.
Councilman Reynolds: “This has got to be a completely transparent conversation”
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
As communities across the country demand changes in police tactics after the death of another black man at the hands of a white officer, Allentown and Bethlehem city council members are calling for reviews and possible reforms in use-of-force and other policies.
Bethlehem council will discuss the police department’s policies next week, while Allentown Councilman Joshua Siegel plans to recommend changes at a council meeting this month.
The proposals in Allentown and Bethlehem aren’t as drastic as in Minneapolis, where a majority of the city council supports disbanding the police force after four officers were fired and charged in the May 25 death of George Floyd. Reformers in the Lehigh Valley want the departments to be more transparent about policies and complaints, emphasize de-escalation methods, and engage the community. They have joined a chorus of leaders calling for changes in police tactics amid Black Lives Matter protests in cities across the country, including Philadelphia, where the city council wants to ban kneeholds and chokeholds.
In Bethlehem, Councilman J. William Reynolds and Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith sent a memo Tuesday to police Chief Mark DiLuzio, asking for details about the use-of-force policy, officer training requirements and the department’s de-escalation techniques. They also proposed a community engagement initiative involving residents, police officers, school representatives and social justice organizations.
The Bethlehem Police Department shared a heavily redacted version of its use-of-force policy with The Morning Call, blacking out sections 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.
DiLuzio said releasing an unredacted document detailing the department’s use-of-force policy “would compromise the safety of individual officers and the public and make it easier for criminals to elude prosecution.”
Some of the changes reformers are recommending in Allentown and Bethlehem were in place, the police departments say, even before a Minneapolis police officer kneeled for nearly nine minutes on Floyd’s neck, killing him and triggering worldwide outrage and daily protests.
In Bethlehem, neither Reynolds nor Smith have seen the department’s use-of-force policy, but both believe the public should have access to it. Reynolds said it was unrealistic to expect the community to be able to hold police accountable without knowing what the policies say.
“I do think this has got to be a completely transparent conversation,” Reynolds said.
In Bethlehem, change was driven by a botched drug raid 23 years ago at a South Side home. There, police shot John Hirko Jr. 11 times, killing him, and threw a flash bang grenade that burned down the house as Hirko’s girlfriend narrowly escaped.
A federal jury found the police department used excessive force, leading Bethlehem to settle with Hirko’s family for $7.39 million. In 2015, Bethlehem cut the final check to pay off that debt. But Mayor Robert Donchez said the reforms that blossomed from the incident remain.
The police department became both state and nationally accredited and transformed into what Donchez called a more community-minded agency.
“When you look at the city’s police history, the Hirko incident led the city to reevaluate the role of its police department,” Donchez said. “The accreditation holds us to a higher standard than some other police departments. I’m not saying there’s not always room for improvement, but this did add an increased accountability to the Bethlehem Police Department.”
Reynolds said he sees a community engagement initiative as a starting point for building more trust between residents and the police department, as a space “for the community to create the solution over time and solve the problems over time.”
Crampsie Smith said, “It is really important that our black and brown communities have a voice. . . . We need to get input from the community. What is their priority?”
The daughter of a police chief with two nephews in law enforcement, Crampsie Smith said she understands the important role police serve in communities, but she believes they’ve grown more aggressive over the years. She said she’d like to see them go back to a model focused on guardianship and protection.
Cultural competency training could help officers recognize and stop their own biases, Crampsie Smith said. And she believes de-escalation training won’t just create a better relationship with the community but could save lives.
Donchez expects the city to have a response to the memo early next week, followed by a joint public safety meeting with council to keep the discussion moving forward.
Cuomo mandates community/police engagement
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
“We are proposing creating a citywide Community Engagement Initiative within our police department. It would include a broad coalition consisting of residents, police officers, representatives from our schools, social justice organizations, and more.”
J. William Reynolds, Member of Council
Grace Crampsie Smith, Member of Council
————
Compare the Reynolds/Crampsie Smith voluntary (as of now, anyway) community engagement proposal without penalty (as of now, anyway) with Governor Cuomo’s mandatory community engagement proposal with penalty.
“There is no trust between the community and the police.”
————
Does the Cuomo statement apply to Bethlehem?
Despite some positive community programs in which police engage, Reynolds/Crampsie Smith state that “many residents feel that the level of trust is still lacking.”
Do you agree?
Do we need a community engagement initiative?
We need to hear what’s on your mind.
Community engagement has to be based on building *relationships*
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
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.
Gadfly:
It’s a lot easier to say “community engagement” than to do anything that actually engages a wide spectrum of community members.
Block Watch is a program started to connect police with the community but primarily so they would get info from the community. And, as we’ve seen in other cities, it can become a cover for vigilante groups. Decades ago, most block-watch groups in Allentown became Neighborhood Associations, with some support from the city; this seems to be a much more community-centric model, since it deals with all manner of issues.
I think the city should report the home location of police and all other city employees!
If the “CEI” is a group or the city controls who participates, I think it would be a waste of time and money. Community engagement is more than a group / committee or even a process — community engagement has to be based on building *relationships*.
Rumor has it that community policing was phased out in favor of a department-wide community-oriented-policing approach; unfortunately the actual result seems to be much less — not more — community policing.
There used to be a Regional Community Policing Institute in Allentown, but they gradually became less and less effective. (Although many states still have RCPI, I don’t know of one for PA.)
I’m going to repeat that is it easy to talk community engagement. The talk is often self-serving or posturing, and I hope we don’t see any of that here.
Peter
Rogue officers part of a larger system
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
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.
Gadfly:
I am not sure there really is a “national debate over whether the violence carried out on people of color by police is the result of systemic racism or rogue officers.”
Either way, though, we are left with the fact that a disproportionate number of these crimes — not only the highly-visible assaults and murders that happen to get caught on video — are perpetrated against Black, Brown, and Indigenous people.
Yes, it is clear that there are “rotten apples” in the police (and many other occupations — although most of those people are not given the authority and weapons to do so much harm). The presence of these rotten apples in no way eliminates the problem of deep systemic problems.
Why do police departments and police unions and many police officers defend the rotten apples and make sure they are not prosecuted or even disciplined for their criminal acts? By doing this, aren’t they all violating their oath of office and making a mockery of the term “law enforcement” officer?
What I see is rogue officers that are part of a larger system (not just the police) in which racism, white patriarchy, and the use of violence are embedded and normalized. Even people who aren’t racist & people opposed to violence are caught up in the system and may not see it for what it is.
P.S. — We don’t really know the reasons, but I suspect that all the ERT officers in Buffalo resigned from the squad because they were outraged that 2 officers were suspended and charged for their criminal acts.
Peter
If you were Chief of Police, what would you do?
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
Gadfly often asks you to role play, usually to role play a City Council member.
Since Gadfly wants you to be the best voter you can be, role playing a City Council decision can help you understand the job and the responsibility and to determine the kind of person we need to elect to sit at the Head Table.
But today Gadfly’s going to ask you to role play the Chief of Police.
Everybody in city government associated with law enforcement is on a hot seat right now in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing — mayors, police chiefs, city council members.
Let’s think about the hot seat our Chief is on.
Two City Council members have asked him to respond by Monday to a request for information on the department’s use of force directives and his willingness to establish a Community Engagement Initiative within the department.
The Chief has made a strong public statement denouncing the Minneapolis police behavior and has already sketched out before Council what he considers strong department policies and training procedures regarding the use of violence.
Responding to the request for information on the directives at this point doesn’t seem like a big deal. The Chief doesn’t seem worried about that. That seems normal accountability.
But how about responding to the major Community Engagement Initiative idea?
That does seem a big deal. And might be taken as a reflection on his job performance.
Role play.
If you were the Chief you might be thinking, hey, I’ve been in law enforcement around 40 years, I’ve been in Bethlehem law enforcement 25 years, I’ve been Chief 6 years, I have outstanding department policies and training, I have made a strong statement decrying what happened in Minneapolis, I seem to have cordial relations with Council, our city is reasonably free of such racial incidents and tensions that mark other cities — so, hey, what’s all this about not trusting the department all of a sudden?
Previously, Gadfly hypothesized three possible ways the Chief could respond:
1) that he is open (or not) to participating actively (maybe even lead — not clear) in the development of what looks like a major enterprise
2) that he would like to withhold comment and commitment till the two Councilors provide much more detail on how such an initiative would operate
3) that he could suggest another way to achieve the same goals.
Subsequently, Gadfly has thought of a 4th option: that the Chief wants to wait to see if the CEI idea has the support of the full Council rather that just two members before he “engages” with it.
Gadfly doesn’t know anything about Council dynamics backstage. Perhaps the full Council was involved in or at least alerted to formulation of the Reynolds/Crampsie Smith memo.
But their memo is on the agenda for Tuesday’s City Council meeting as a “Communication” and will no doubt be discussed then or under New Business.
What do you think the Chief is likely to do? What should he do? What would you do?
The Rose Garden Farmer’s Market blossoms tomorrow — and a work party is forming: a beautiful day to feed and weed
Latest in a series of posts on the Rose Garden
Gadfly:
I wanted to put on your radar the first day of the Mount Airy Neighborhood Association West Side Farmers Market starts tomorrow morning. The time is from 9 AM till 1 PM at the south-east corner of the Rose Garden. It will feature local vendors and farmers selling products.
I am also organizing an effort to clean up the rose beds at the garden. Starting at 8 AM. Calling all volunteers to help in efforts to weed the rose garden beds.
Social distancing and mask wearing is required at the market and the volunteer effort.
Adam Waldron
Starting the conversation about a “Community Engagement initiative”
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
Some of this is naturally way ahead of the proposal at this point, of course, but it might help start the conversation.
- “Community Engagement Initiative”: Gadfly’s aphrodisiac words. Gadfly’s all in.
- The proposal is directed to the Chief. Is this the way to get this done? Options? What’s the Mayor’s role in this? What’s proper procedure and protocol?
- What’s Council’s role vis-a-vis the police dept? What power does Council have over the dept? Can Council be only facilitators, partners? Could Council mandate (not that you would want to maybe)? Is this basically the Mayor’s business and chain of command?
- Gadfly would be interested in a detailed list of police/community interactions. Off the top of his head, he knows block watch and a Junior cops program. What else? How about a detailed list and a sense of how many officers are involved.
- Gadfly is also curious about how many officers live in Bethlehem.
- The memo says the CEI would be “within” the police dept. That’s interesting. Not outside? Gadfly would like to hear more about that. Make it a dept activity under dept control rather than a separate entity with connotations of either oversight or impotency? (See Peter Crownfield’s comment to a recent post that “I also wonder if a community engagement effort will resolve current concerns if it’s conducted by and for the police department.”)
- So what is the connection of the CEI with the dept? Are there models of such as is envisioned by the Councilors that we could look at?
- Who leads the CEI?
- Who establishes the CEI?
- Who decides who is in the CEI? (The potential list looks enormous)
- What power does the CEI have?
- Would the CEI need a budget for staff and activities?
- Though Gadfly loves community and inclusion, the envisioned group does look enormous and potentially unwieldy for a working group. How get operational?
- If assuaging (good SAT word) race and ethnic issues is the motivation and goal of CEI, should Southside/Hispanic be highlighted — seems like there’s a center of attention.
- If fostering a (very) large community group to create its own agenda, it would be interesting for the Councilor’s to formulate the one-paragraph prompt a meeting facilitator would give them to kick off their work.
- Gadfly would like to know more about the history of “community policing” in Bethlehem. Officer Dosedlo (now retired?) spoke of it fondly at the 2016 NAACP forum in the newspaper article posted a couple posts back. And resident Lisa Rosa has spoken of it nostalgically at several Council meetings. What exactly was community policing in Bethlehem, and why did community policing disappear in Bethlehem?
Let’s start thinking about a “Community Engagement Initiative”
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
We’re in the process of thinking about the Use of Force Directives and a Community Engagement Initiative memo to Chief DiLuzio by Councilmembers Reynolds and Crampsie Smith.
And once more a tip o’ the hat to the Councilors for stepping up and getting something on 
the table.
We’ve spent some time thinking about the first part of the memo, the “Use of Force Directives.” Now to the “Community Engagement Initiative.”
Here’s what the Councilors put on the table:
Over the last several years during budget hearings and various community events, we have heard consistently about the positive programs that our police officers engage in with the community. These “community policing” programs involve everything from working with elementary school students to attending block watch meetings where citizens share the issues in their individual neighborhoods. The importance of these programs is unquestioned. They provide positive, trust-building opportunities for members of our community and the police officers who serve them. Yet, many residents feel that the level of trust is still lacking. We, as a community, clearly need to invest more time and money into the aforementioned initiatives to continue to build trust and collaboration between our citizens and our police department.
We are proposing creating a citywide Community Engagement Initiative within our police department. It would include a broad coalition consisting of residents, police officers, representatives from our schools, social justice organizations, and more.
The initiative would bring awareness and a louder voice to issues of injustice in our City. It could also help to design and promote events and actions designed to build trust between our citizens and the Police Department. It could also be a place for people to talk, organize, and, most importantly, listen. The reality is we don’t know exactly what the coalition would want to focus on. It is designed to be a group with an organic and flexible focus determined by our community. We understand that we are currently successfully carrying out individual events that fulfill the philosophy of engaging citizens with our Police Department in non-enforcement activities. It is clear, however, that we need to do more. Bethlehem needs to include more officers, more organizations, more citizens, and have more discussion on issues relating to race, justice, and trust.
Now Gadfly has said earlier that he didn’t think the Chief would have any qualms about engaging with the Councilors on the directive part of their memo. His comments at last week’s Council meeting show that the Chief is confident in the area of policies and training in regard to the use of violence.
But Gadfly is not sure how the Chief will respond to this initiative.
The concept of a Community Engagement Initiative is defined only in very, very broad outlines here.
An awfully lot has to be worked out and detailed before one could agree to be totally on board.
Now perhaps there is some back and forth going on between the Chief and the Councilmembers before the requested Monday response on some of these details.
But if Gadfly were Chief, he thinks all he could say now is that 1) he is open (or not) to participating actively in the development of this major enterprise or 2) that he would like to withhold comment and commitment till the Councilors provided much more detail on how such an initiative would operate or 3) here’s another, maybe better idea to achieve the same goals.
But a ball is rolling.
Some questions and comments about this initiative are coming into Gadfly’s mind — how about you? Think on this, send comments if you want, and join with Gadfly in sharing some preliminary thoughts in the next post.
More information needed on how we identify and weed out the “bad apples”
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
So the most important thing in front of us right now is the City’s response to the George Floyd killing.
(Someone told me that the planters the City has been making to enable outdoor dining with some style as well as safety have started to appear, seducing us to put the pandemic behind us, but, c’mon, keep your eye on the ball — issues of police and race should top our civic menu.)
Mayor Donchez made a statement. Chief DiLuzio made a statement. All the Councilmembers made statements. And now Councilmembers Reynolds and Crampsie Smith have asked the Chief to respond by Monday, June 15 to a June 9 memo entitled Use of Force Directives and a Community Engagement Initiative.
That’s where we are now.
Gadfly likes to divide and focus, so he has been limiting his thinking over the past couple posts solely to the “Use of Force Directives” part of the Councilors’ memo.
Based on the Chief’s response to Councilwoman Crampsie Smith at the Council meeting, Gadfly has said he feels the Chief will hit a triple if not a home run in regard to department policies and training.
But based on the Chief’s and the City’s response to the possibility that a Bethlehem officer behaved in a racially insensitive way involving a traffic stop of an Hispanic man in September 2019, Gadfly has misgivings about department policy and practice investigating and policing “one of their own.”
Since there was a black-out of information, Gadfly can not speak with certainty, but it looked to him that the Chief jumped too quickly to defend the officer without contacting the complainant or the Hispanic man — and responded in an extreme way, charging the complainant of improper behavior (to refresh on the full details, click “police” on the sidebar under Topics). The officer was eventually cleared of any allegation of unprofessional or illegal activity by an internal review — which could well have been run by the Chief himself. We just don’t know. There was a Council Public Safety committee meeting on the heels of the Mayor closing this case, air-tight. Council didn’t publicly question the City action in a case with obvious racial overtones. Council took a hands-off approach. Which is the reason why Gadfly hopes the discussion between Council and Chief in response to the memo, if it happens, will include airing the process of internal investigation as well as the value of outside review in racially charged situations.
There is national debate over whether the violence carried out on people of color by police is the result of systemic racism or rogue officers. That debate is tangled. Once again, Gadfly likes to divide and focus. He likes to keep it simple if possible. He can’t say for sure that there is systemic racism in the Minnesota police department, but he knows there was a rogue officer there. Derek Chauvin had 17 previous complaints against him, all dismissed except one. And yet he was still on the force. Somehow he managed to stay on the force. Until he finally sent a shock around the world.
Gadfly would like more information about how we identify and weed out the rogues — who, after all, will have had all the training provided by or required by the department like Chauvin did — before we have an incident that propels us into the same foul mouthful of cities like Minneapolis, Louisville, Austin, and the like.
One more thing about the Chief. And this is Gadfly being a bitchy gadfly for sure.
The Chief made a fine statement at Council. He pulled no punches. Gadfly applauded him for that. We know where he stands about the kind of police work demonstrated by Derek Chauvin and the others. But where do the officers stand? Remember that 57 officers in Buffalo resigned from their tactical unit in the case of the “elderly” man who was knocked to the ground — resigned in opposition to their superiors. Sometimes leadership and the troops are not on the same page.
The Chief made a fine statement that Gadfly applauded him for, but — he said clearly — he made it “on behalf” of the department. What a difference it would make if the Chief said he read and discussed his statement with the force at large and they agreed. That, therefore, it was a statement not just from the Chief but from the whole department.
What a difference it would make if the Bethlehem FOP Star Lodge #20 joined in the statement or made one of their own. Where is the voice of the police union, unions which, we read in the news, sometimes play key roles in attempts to discipline officers?
At the March 3 Public Safety meeting discussion focused on officer discretion in applying the new City ordinance or the State law to cases involving small amounts of marijuana. It did not matter that Council voted 7-0 to signal it wanted officers to use the summary offense City ordinance in most cases. The officers were using their discretion and doing otherwise in the vast majority of the cases. The Chief reported that he went to roll call and platoon meetings to talk up the City ordinance.
Did the Chief do a similar thing in seeking general acceptance for his Floyd statement?
But the larger point is that no matter what Council wants, no matter what the Chief personally feels or how much training he institutes, the individual officer is free in a lot of cases to act as he or she determines. And we need to be sure that once we see or sense a “bad apple,” that officer is shown the door.
Your thoughts?
Now let’s move to the Community Engagement Initiative part of the Reynolds/Crampsie Smith memo to the Chief.
Ever fresh thoughts from old John
The Gadfly invites “local color” photos of this sort
“We are all citizens of one world indeed . . . we are all equally human.”
John Comenius
Thoughts that can’t be masked
Kate McVey
Support for community & backyard gardening should be part of a climate action plan!
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.
Gadfly:
Connor makes some very important points here, and I’d like to highlight a few:
• Growing your own food lets you enjoy fresher, healthier food than is available in stores.
• You can grow herbs and specialty foods that are hard to find in stores
• Growing without synthetic chemicals helps make sure the food is healthy & free of poisons — and also takes carbon dioxide from the air and sequesters it in the soil.
• Local growing produces far lower greenhouse gas emissions [GHG] because it is less mechanized and avoids much of the processing and transportation
• Composting food waste is a great way to return nutrients to the soil while reducing GHG from disposing in the landfill (and Bethlehem could expand its compost facility to compost food waste without having to pay high fees to a commercial composter
• Community gardening and sharing food from backyard gardens strengthens community
• Community meals offer another great opportunity for building community
Yes, support for community & backyard gardening should be of a climate action plan!
Peter
The Gadfly thread on community gardening has gotten lost in the issues surrounding the killing of George Floyd, and I am glad to get it back on track.
Prior civic engagement on police/race issues
Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing
We’re in the process of thinking about the Use of Force Directives and a Community Engagement Initiative memo to Chief DiLuzio by Councilmembers Reynolds and Crampsie Smith.
However, Gadfly’s morning is pretty much spoken for. Sigh.
As an historical context to the second part — the Community Engagement part — of the Reynolds/Crampsie Smith memo, a follower called Gadfly’s attention to fairly recent prior civic engagement on police/race issues.
This article says there were 4 forums altogether. Gadfly will look later for more info. But you might find this interesting as context for the current discussion.
Keep thinking!
The City reminds us of the June 17 Climate Action Plan forum
The latest in a series of posts relating to the environment, Bethlehem’s Climate
Action Plan, and Bethlehem’s Environmental Advisory Council
Easy to forget about this with all the drama going on.
But this is historic! Don’t miss!
Press Release:
June 9, 2020
City of Bethlehem to host first public forum on Climate Action Plan Online
Mayor Bob Donchez announced today that the City of Bethlehem will host an online forum on Wednesday, June 17, to inform the public of the development of the City’s Climate Action Plan. The Plan, which will be developed throughout 2020, will outline measures, policies, and strategies the City can support to reduce Bethlehem’s contribution to climate change and to adapt to the risks of a changing climate, such as extreme temperatures.
To maximize accessibility, the 90-minute virtual meeting will be held twice, at both 12:00pm and 5:30pm. Each session will cover the same content. Members of the public are encouraged to register for the session that is most convenient for them at the following web address: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/7859566807906925067
Bethlehem’s Climate Action Plan will establish local priorities for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change while locally improving public health, protecting Bethlehem’s environment, and strengthening the city’s economy. The Plan will also include a climate hazard vulnerability assessment and outline measures, policies, and strategies the City, its businesses, and residents can take to reduce climate-related risks, such as increased flooding and extreme temperatures.
At the June 17 forum the City and consultants WSP and Nurture Nature Center will introduce the climate action planning process and provide information about actions the City has already taken to address climate change. Participants will then be asked to share their thoughts on the goals and priorities they hope to see reflected in the plan which will be released in early 2021.
The public can learn more about the planning process and provide additional input via a short online survey at the following web address: https://www.bethlehem-pa.gov/Public-Works/Climate-Action-Plan
The City of Bethlehem has a long history of supporting climate action and leading by example. The Mayor and City Council have committed Bethlehem to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the We Are Still In initiative, the Sierra Club’s Mayors For 100% Clean Energy, and the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda. The City government has also implemented numerous greenhouse gas reduction initiatives, ranging from energy efficiency to renewable energy purchasing, which have reduced the City’s contribution to climate change from municipal operations 37 percent from 2005 to 2017.
Bethlehem City Council unanimously passed a Resolution endorsing the creation of a Climate Action Plan. Mayor Donchez’s administration, through the Public Works department, issued a request for proposals for climate action plan preparation in June 2019. Bethlehem-based engineering firm WSP and science-based community center Nurture Nature Center, located in Easton, were selected as consultants to develop the Plan in 2020 with input from Bethlehem’s public, businesses and stakeholders.