DA Jim Martin Speaks Out on Deputy Sheriffs and Community Police

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin was a forceful advocate for community policing at last week's commissioners' meeting, in which the measure failed by a vote that went strictly along party lines. Republican commissioners rejected a Republican DA's plea for more police. Martin's mammoth size alone is quite intimidating, and I told you that he continually paced the meeting room as "smoke billowed out his nostrils."

Word of my report apparently got back to Martin, but I was tipped off. I quickly packed my bags and was getting ready to leave for an extended vacation before those Lehigh County deputies could nail me, but I was too slow.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Who is it?" I said, trying to sound like an old lady.

"Sheriff's department. Open up, we know you're in there, O'Hare."

I consider jumping out the window, but swat teams were all over the place. I opened the door. Instead of being handed a warrant for overtime parking in Lehigh County, I was given a nice letter from DA Martin. He writes as forcefully as he speaks, and he is right about what he said. He also agreed to let me share his letter with all of you.

I read your post of last Thursday, and I am sorry that I did not see you in the audience Wednesday evening. I guess you were obscured by the “smoke billowing out of my nostrils”. I would have liked to have said “hello” to you.

You did make one statement that I take slight exception to: “…[A]nd DA Martin told commissioners he won’t consider deputies law enforcement officers until a statute is adopted.”

I think what I said was closer to: “Under a ruling from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court: sheriffs are not considered law enforcement officers in Pennsylvania and have very limited powers of arrest.” They can arrest for motor vehicle violations amounting to breaches of the peace committed in their presence. And, sheriffs, like all citizens, may arrest for felonies committed in their presence.

That is not my opinion. That is the holding of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in ­Kopko v. Miller, 892 A.2d 766 (Pa. 2006). In Pennsylvania “…sheriffs are not ‘investigative or law enforcement officers’…”

HB 466, which has been pending in the House Judiciary Committee since February, 2007, would change that decision. Law enforcement organizations throughout Pennsylvania oppose this bill for a variety of sound reasons.

That having been said, sheriffs perform vital functions and encounter dangerous situations on a daily basis. They deserve to be appropriately armed; and, while revolvers may be adequate, I think they deserve the protections of more capacity and more rapid fire that a semi-automatic pistol provides.

All of that having been said, the point before the commissioners was not whether the sheriffs in Lehigh County deserve to be better-armed. The issue was whether or not providing $1.2 million to offset about half the cost of providing community police officers in ten to twelve jurisdictions who have expressed an interest, is appropriate. I happen to think that public safety is a “core function” of all governments; and I think the Republican commissioners missed an opportunity to improve public safety in Lehigh County; and did so on a purely political basis.

Update: In a related matter, The Morning Call today reports the Lehigh County Sheriff Ron Rossi has decided against disciplining deputies who publicly criticized their boss.