When Lehigh County's commissioners considered Don Cunningham's $4 million anti-crime package on Wednesday evening, one person was conspicuous by his absence - Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin. One of his harshest critics, Bill Villa, noticed. I agreed that Martin should have attended.I have since learned that the DA was unavoidably out of town, and sent First Assistant District Attorney, Steven M. Luksa, in his place. Martin, a Republican, also mailed a letter to Lehigh County's commissioners, giving his unqualified support for this proactive program, including the community policing proposal shelved by Republican commissioners. I have a copy of Jim's letter, which I'll share with you.
It has come to my attention that the above-captioned matters are on the agenda for the Administrative Committee Meeting and Board Meeting of April 9, 2008. But for a very long-standing commitment to be in New York City that evening, I would be in attendance. However, I plan to send as my designee First Assistant District Attorney, Steven M. Luksa.
I write to offer my whole-hearted support of the above measures. In my judgment, each of them will contribute to enhancing public safety in Lehigh County and indeed the entire Lehigh Valley region.
You have previously approved, together with the Northampton County Council, funding a feasibility study of a Regional Crime Center for the Lehigh Valley. That study has been completed and engaged the participation of District Attorneys of both counties and police departments throughout both counties. Law enforcement overwhelmingly supports the concept of a Regional Crime Center. Such a center will provide invaluable information to police agencies to aid in prevention of crime as well as in solving and prosecuting crimes that have occurred. Today, crime knows no borders; and it is essential that police departments within the region have the ability to share data on a real time basis. I strongly urge your passage of Resolution 2008-08: Reaffirming Support of a Regional Crime Center.
Before you for first reading, discussion and vote is Bill 208-23: Amending the Job Classification and Pay Plan in order to accommodate a full time booking officer for the Lehigh County Regional Central Booking Center. As you know, the Regional Booking Center opened in November initially processing persons arrested by the Allentown Police Department. All Lehigh County police departments began to process their arrestees in December, 2007; and, in January, 2008, the DUI Booking Center was merged into the Regional Central Booking Center. As of April 2, 2008, 2, 414 suspects have been processed through the Booking Center. When originally promulgated, the budget for the Booking Center called for eight full time positions. That was amended to reduce the number to five full time positions. Through the course of the first five months of operation, it has become apparent that at least one additional full-time booking officer is required for the efficient operation of the Center. As you know, this Booking Center employs state-of-the-art technology and has streamlined processing and enabled municipal police officers to return to their duties much more quickly than was previously the case. This Booking Center has enhanced public safety; and in order for it to operate most effectively, I respectfully request and urge you to vote in favor of Bill 2008-23.
Bill 2008-24 seeks your approval of the Safe Streets Grant Program and the establishment of a Public Safety Fund to include allocations for the Safe Streets Grants Program; public safety software grants to local municipalities; grants for regional emergency training sites; and, a grant for the establishment of the Regional Crime Center. This is an innovative and important public safety measure that deserves your affirmative vote. As Chief Law Enforcement Officer of Lehigh County, public safety is my number one priority. Funding the measures covered in this bill will greatly enhance public safety not only within the municipalities of Lehigh County but also the region, vis a vis, the Regional Crime Center. Providing more police officers is essential to curbing crime in our communities. The presence of more police officers will help to allay the public’s fear of crime and will make the municipalities of Lehigh County a more inviting place for businesses and individuals to locate. Crime and the public’s perception of crime is, in my opinion, the most important issue on the minds of Lehigh Valley residents. Government fails its primary duty if it doesn’t adequately address public safety. Passage of this bill is an opportunity to enhance public safety throughout our communities. I urge your adoption of Bill 2008-24.
When I became District Attorney a little over ten years ago, one of the first things that I did was convene a meeting of the County’s police chiefs. The number one issue identified by the chiefs at that time was improving the ability of the region’s police departments to communicate effectively with each other. While improvements have been made over the last ten years, equipping individual police departments with computer software to enable each of them to improve their records management and their ability to communicate with neighboring departments will bring law enforcement in Lehigh County into the 21st century and assure its citizenry a rapid and effective response to crime. We live in an information driven society. We have the capability to streamline information gathering and sharing to an unprecedented degree. Equipping the smaller municipal departments with this technology will enable those departments to more effectively provide for the public safety. The County of Lehigh is really the only entity which is equipped to drive and to fund the acquisition of this software. Smaller police departments located within the County simply cannot afford the expense. Medium sized departments would certainly find it to be a strain on their budgets. Providing funding from the County will ensure that this project is implemented in a cost-effective and efficient manner because it can be done all at once and not left to the vagaries of each municipality governing body and budgetary constraints. Providing this software will dovetail nicely with both the Central Booking function and the Regional Real Time Crime Center. Indeed, a well-constructed records management system is essential to the Regional Crime Center and a boon to Central Booking. Uniform reports and documents will do much to aid the prosecution function of my office. Achieving standardization was one of the many factors that drove me to establish the Central Booking Center. Providing funding for the acquisition of this software is essential and I exhort you, as strongly as possible, to adopt Bill 2008-25. Doing so will be one of the most important public safety measure the County of Lehigh has enacted during my tenure as District Attorney.
I am sorry that I can not be present for the meeting of the Administrative Committee and the Board of Commissioners Meeting on April 9. I will be happy to meet with you collectively or individually or to discuss with you by telephone any of these measures during the time that you have them under your consideration.
Thank you for your kind consideration of this letter and for your anticipated favorable action on the measures identified herein.
15 comments:
Bernie -
The commissioners were right to withhold funding for this proposal, and I am an Allentown resident. There are many reasons why I support the commissioners decision, here are a few:
1) Shortly after the Mayor took office, he pushed to pass the EMS tax. The increased revenue was to provide $2.5 million to put more police on the street. Despite the new tax, we now have even less police on the street.
And it's not just because of the pension issue - it's priorities. The Mayor somehow found the money to add many new positions in City Hall.
I don't need an additional fleecing at the county level so that the city can waste even more of my tax money.
2) Mr. Cunningham notes that “sixty-five cents of every Lehigh County taxpayer dollar now goes towards handling crime’s after-effects, in the form of prosecution, defense, incarceration, parole, probation, rehabilitation, and work release.”
That is because those are the functions of county government.
Funding the police is the job of the municipalities. Conversely, I would not support any municipality should be getting in the business of prosecuting criminals - that's the function of the county.
3) These types of grants do not get more police on the street. They allow municipalities to pay for some of their police by shifting the cost to the county.
This is what happened in the 90's on the national level. Despite initial claims of the federal government putting 100,000 officers on the street, that number has been shown to be closer to only 20,000 ADDITIONAL officers. Of course, we paid at the federal level for the 100,000.
4) Leaving the municipalities fund their own police force promotes accountability. If a municipality doesn't have an adequate police force, taxpayers can question the spending priorities of the local administration.
The last thing I want to hear from any mayor is that crime is out of control because the county is not funding enough police. You know that will happen.
5) There is no way this will be a "temporary" solution. This is creating a new bureaucracy at the county level. When was the last time anything in government was cut?
Although a well-written document can be persuasive ...
and I've sent one to all 9 Lehigh County Commissioners myself recently, regarding The Morning Call Editorial Board's curiously stubborn refusal to meet with me regarding DA Jim Martin's suspiciously unenthusiastic prosecutions of the select/connected individuals who killed Zach Mohney, Patrick Sinatore, and my daughter Sheena Villa ...
nothing beats a passionate and determined in-person presentation.
DA Jim Martin should have been at the commissioners meeting on April 9 to throw his considerable weight as the county's top law enforcement officer behind the many important points he made in the letter he mailed-in before heading off to Manhattan.
The crime-fighting initiative's co-sponsor, Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham, a Democrat, needed DA Jim Martin, a Republican, present and participating on Wednesday evening.
And the voters of Lehigh County (who haven't had a choice regarding the office of DA the past two elections because Mr. Martin ran unopposed both times) needed DA Jim Martin present and participating on Wednesday evening.
I believe the reason for Mr. Martin "having to be" in NYC on Wednesday evening because of a "long-standing commitment" must be made public.
What was the purpose of this trip?
I believe the public is entitled to know what took priority over crime-fighting on Wednesday evening for DA Jim Martin.
If Mr. Martin was in New York City for medical reasons, or for a function related to his law enforcement office ... fine.
But if it was for a Broadway show or a ball game, this would not be right and the public deserves to know the truth.
I insist that DA Jim Martin provide documentation that proves his purpose for having been in NYC on Wednesday evening.
I will also send a document to the Lehigh County Commissioners suggesting that they require documentation too.
And since nothing beats a passionate and determined in-person presentation, I will attend the next Lehigh County Commissioners meeting in 2 weeks.
On a related subject, I would like to thank those courageous Lehigh County Commissioners and Allentown City Councilors who have petitioned The Morning Call Editorial Board on my behalf encouraging them to meet with me and extend me the courtesy of its "welcome mat that is always out for those who want to be heard." -www.mcall.com
I would also like to thank Bernie O'Hare for posts on 2/27/08 and 3/28/08 having to do with my persistent efforts to meet with The Morning Call Editorial Board.
For those keeping track, the next polite request I make for a meeting with The Morning Call Editorial Board will be polite request number 100.
Anon 2:22,
1) The EMS tax, imposed on all who work in A-town, covers more than polices. It includes fire, ambulkance, restaurant inspection, etc. But I don't defend pawlowski if he misrepresented why he needed that tax and yes, you now do have less police on the street.
As far as the new positions go, I've asked before how many new positions were created and what they are. No one has ever answered that. I'd like specifics.
2) You're missing Cunningham's point. He doesn't think the county should have to spend so much money reacting to crime. He believes a little money, to provide for a "surge", may decrease those costs in the long run.
3) This grant is designed to get 7 to 10 new cops opn the street and requires matches. So we still have that accountability.
4) The mayor can say what he wants. This is an anti-crime measure, not politics.
5) By the terms of this grant, it dies in three years. That gives people time to evaluate if it is a success or failure. If a failure, discontinue. If a success, expand.
Anon 2:22
The reason why we're only seeing 20,000 officers on the street nationwide instead of the 100,000 is that over these past 7 years the feds (under the direction of Bush) have significantly cut funding to the COPS program. The funding was there and then redirected elsewhere. Very sad.
If crime prevention initiatives save tax money verses crime reactive policies, why does it need more money?
It doesn't need more money. it needs some money to get started on a county level.
Now "surge" is a good word.
I'm trying to keep up.
Anon 1:52, I stole that "surge" analogy from Dean Browning's remarks at Wednesday night's meeting.
Jim Martin should understand it is not the purview of county government to provide for the funding of police to local municipalities. This should be seen for what it is, an expansion of county government. As I wrote before, this has much more to do with politics than public safety.
Scott Armstrong
Norco was to be involved in this. Where is Stoffa on this ?
Both Stoffa and DA Morganelli support the idea, and I suspect NC will be involved. NC got the ball rolling on a bicounty health department; LKC got the ball rolling hewre. I suspect NC will be involved in the regional crime center aspect of this idea.
This was a proactive proposal to fight crime that was supported by the D.A. (a Republican). There was already a feasibility study conducted and backed by the DA (a Republican). There was a letter sent to the entire body of commissioners for the DA, wholeheartedly backing this action (there is a Republican majority 5 to 4). The letter is below.
I always perceived Republicans to be hard on crime. But I never understood the full implication until now. Based on this action, it’s safe to conclude Republicans need crime to continue, to instill fear in the community. Therefore any proactive action to deter or lower the crime statistics lies in direct opposition to the exploitation of said fear and will be met with extreme opposition no matter who supports their action. Michael obviously someone’s not drinking the cool aid because the 5 commissioners who voted against are now de facto pro crime. Republicans at that……….
Regardless of all of the political implications of the proposal and yada, yada, blah, blah, blah. The question still remains, and likely will:
What was so important in NYC on 4/9/08?
One would think this to be a high priority for such a high ranking crime fighting official.
Bill, do you really think you will ver get an honest answer to that question? Not to mention a single one of the many others you personally deserve an danswer for.
If the tables were turned and you somehow wronged or were trying to avoid him, you would have been locked up long ago.
The whole political scene is corrupt and we can't do anything about it, except to vote.... Maybe that will help.
This is sad and disheartening. I don't know how any of them sleep at night. I would bet there is a cabinet full of potent remedies to help them sleep and to forget.
It's little wonder I have no desire to read the newspaper.
But I will be voting, things have to change!
"Bill, do you really think you will ver get an honest answer to that question? Not to mention a single one of the many others you personally deserve an danswer for."
I do, Dave. Absolutely. I have the rest of their lives to keep asking my "excellent questions that deserve to be answered." And I intend to do just that. In my experience, persistence--never (never) giving up--always (always) pays off. When you're right, like I am, it becomes an endurance game. Eventually, my persistence will attract out of town media talent and then it'll be game over rather quickly. In the meantime, I'm really enjoying the process.
Post a Comment