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.
"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." -DA Jim Martin
ReplyDeleteDA Martin, I was there too. You didn't say hello to me either. And I know you saw me. Maybe next meeting? FYI, you don't seem all that mammoth to me ...
Who's the guy with DA Martin?
ReplyDeleteThe last five sentences say it all.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the D.A. should write a letter to Mayor Pawlowski. If public safety is a "core function" of government - which it is - maybe he should ask the Mayor to explain why Allentown had 40+ more bureaucrats in City Hall and 40 less police.
ReplyDeleteAllentown's problem isn't a lack of money. It has been two incompetent Mayors with quite a few rubber-stamping councilpeople.
If DA Jim Martin had been PRESENT & PARTICIPATING at the April 9 commissioners meeting (i.e., the meeting when Safe Streets was initially proposed), I believe the "$1 million for more police" aspect of the Safe Streets proposal would have had a much greater chance of being approved by the Republican-majority Lehigh County Commissioners.
ReplyDeleteDA Jim Martin, the county's top law enforcement officer, was ABSENT from this pivotal meeting on crime fighting-- leaving Democrat co-sponsor Don Cunningham and just about every police chief in the county to fend for themselves against the commissioners.
All "mammoth" DA Jim Martin would have had to do on April 9 was to flip just one of his five Republican brethren on the Lehigh County commissioners board into the "yes" column.
WHY WASN'T DA JIM MARTIN THERE ON APRIL 9 DOING HIS BEST TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN?
As per their long-standing M.O. with Mr. Martin, The Morning Call has given the DA a complete "free pass" on his troubling dereliction of duty on the evening of April 9.
Not only did The Morning Call not report on DA Jim Martin's glaring absence from this important meeting, they composed their April 10 coverage of the April 9 meeting in such a way that readers would get the impression DA Jim Martin was at that important meeting.
The fact is that DA Jim Martin was in NYC on the evening of April 9, as has been reported on this blog.
As a taxpayer and a concerned citizen of Lehigh County, I'd like to know WHAT TOOK PRIORITY OVER CRIME-FIGHTING FOR DA JIM MARTIN ON THE EVENING OF APRIL 9?
What was happening in NYC on the evening of April 9 that was MORE IMPORTANT TO DA JIM MARTIN THAN FIGHTING CRIME IN LEHIGH COUNTY?
I expect the Lehigh County Commissioners to ask this question of DA Jim Martin at their next meeting ... but I won't hold my breath regarding The Morning Call reporting on Mr. Martin's answer.
The Supreme Court did NOT say that Deputy Sheriffs "are not investigative or law enforcement officers" in Miller v. Kopko... and "DA Martin" knows that full well. Unfortunately, since "DA Martin" and "Sheriff Rossi" have a longstanding, behind the scenes, publicly denied feud and/or axe to grind against each other... and "DA Martin" feels somehow threatened by the Sheriff as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the county... "DA Martin" cuts the Supreme Court quote short and takes it out of context in an effort to denigrate Deputy Sheriffs. (Not to mention put them in an officer safety jeopardy situation by purposely spreading such intentional falsities across the public domain.) The actual ruling from the Supreme Court in the Kopko v. Miller case actually says that deputy sheriffs are not investigative or law enforcement officers FOR PURPOSES OF THE WIRETAP ACT. In fact, there is a more recent, subsequent ruling by the Superior Court that directly AFFIRMS Deputy Sheriffs as Law Enforcement Officers, and repudiates those disingenuous bad actors such as "DA Martin" who regularly twist the earlier ruling in an attempt to emasculate Sheriffs and their Deputies. While one would/should expect better of such an important elected official as the District Attorney, I guess that's not the case in Lehigh County... meanwhile the criminals benefit from it, the deputies are placed at unnecessary risk, and as always... the public loses out in the end. Sad.
ReplyDelete" ... one would/should expect better of such an important elected official as the District Attorney ..." -anon 3:50pm
ReplyDeleteKopko v. Miller isn't the only case DA Jim Martin doesn't possess the mental circuitry to fully grasp. Martin is thick as a brick when it comes to interpreting these highly relevant cases too ...
Commonwealth v. Urbanski
Commonwealth v. Kling
Commonwealth v. Pigg
Commonwealth v. Scales
Commonwealth v. Levin
... these 5 cases are all examples of Pennsylvanians being charged with and convicted of 3rd degree murder for a DUI death. All 5 convictions were appealed to the PA Superior Court. All 5 convictions were upheld. All 5 cases are "good law."
I don't believe our DA Jumbo Jimbo has even read any of them ...