Nazareth Cops Committing Random Acts of Kindness

It pains me to write this story. I'm much more at home when I'm exposing some dark ugly secret, like NorCo Councilman Mat Benol's strange sexual attraction to banana peels. But Nazareth police are screwing me up lately with random acts of kindness. I have to tell the story.

Last Summer, I was pretty tough on Nazareth police. They deserved it, especially after Chief Thomas "Cupcake" Trachta and Trachta goon Dan Troxell, a supposed police officer, decided to chain, shackle and perp walk the Sticker Gang. That's a trio of young men falsely accused of distributing tiny, postage-stamp sized, Fire Trachta (FT) stickers throughout the boro. Most laughed it off. But not the doubleTs. No sense of humor in those two. But they did such a shitty investigation that all charges were dismissed in court. Not oven one littering count made it past Magisterial District Judge Jackie Taschner.

Part-time officer Dan Troxell had to take a leave of absence and repeat grade school.

But that's only the bad side of Nazareth cops. There's a good side, too. A very good side. As much as it pains me, I want to share that with you today.

Let me start around November or December. A woman in Nazareth, working at a local business, was the victim of a hit-and-run car accident. Someone slammed into her parked car, and then took off. Her car, not worth much to begin with, was a total loss. Because the car is so old, she had no collision coverage, either.

The Nazareth Borough Police Association did more than take a report. They helped this lady get a replacement vehicle. It was still an old, used car. But they got together among themselves and chipped in the money to make the purchase. Her boss helped, too.

More recently, this group gave $500 to a single mother who works two different jobs to help make ends meet.

This Nazareth Borough Police Association is a labor organization that consists of the full-time officers: Alan Koch: Freddie Lahovski; Steve Schleig and Adam Shimer. Of the four, Adam Shimer is an Iraq war vet who grew up in Nazareth and always wanted to be a police officer. Officer Koch, another vet, has two sons who played ball with my grandson. Steve Schleig is the smiling face you'll see during festivals, talking to people. And Lahovski, their President, is the officer who shielded a child during a gunfight with his own body.

They may be despised by Borough Council, but these are the good guys.

Now if you break the law, they're still gonna' arrest you. But they are good and honorable men and are a credit to Nazareth. At this time of the year,they conduct their annual fundraiser. Yes, they are a union, but this fundraiser has nothing to do with the cost of filing grievances. In fact, in a telephone interview last night, Officer Lahovsky told me that he pays his legal bills out of his own pocket. This fundraiser is to help them be better cops and help them to help others.  Because they use no outside agencies to solicit on their behalf, 100% of what you give goes directly to the Police Association. You can send them as little as $1 or as much as $1 trillion, to the Nazareth Borough Police Association, P.O. Box 573, Nazareth, Pa 18064. The fundraising letter adds, "Our legitimacy can be verified by calling Nazareth Police at 610-759-9575."

What will they do with your contribution? Aside from the acts of kindness above, see the contest below.