Unless you've been on the Planet Kratom, you probably know by now that Allentown is looking for a new Mayor. Its former occupant, Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski, will soon be leaving on an extended vacation at a minimum-security facility, courtesy of Uncle Sam. But it was only
reported today that Allentown's current police chief, Glen Dorney, is resigning to take a more lucrative and less demanding job at South Whitehall. Their chief left for an even more lucrative hospital gig. Dorney is leaving after about three seconds on the job, and his two immediate predecessor had very short tenures as well. They can recite all their commendations for this and that, but the truth is that they all left Allentown in the lurch. They were in it for themselves, not the City. Fortunately, Allentown's next Mayor is in a very good position to change things and install a real crime fighter who will immediately boost the morale of the police force and city.
Who is this person? Scott Curtis. He is the FBI Special Agent whose name appeared on the federal documents back in 2015. He was FedEd's nemesis.
Curtis is a hard-charging mob buster who is reported to have virtually
destroyed the Colombo crime family in NYC. Over a decade, he participated in the arrest of over 100 mobsters. Even more interestingly, he flipped about a dozen of them.
He repeated that practice here. He flipped Sam Ruchlewicz, Mike Fleck and Francis Dougherty. His investigation of Allentown's political corruption is the most extensive of its kind in the Lehigh Valley.
Curtis reaches mandatory retirement age in April. I can think of no one better suited as Allentown's top crime dog. What I think means nothing, but I understand that several City Council members feel that way, too.He's their #1 draft pick.
You are right, but dreaming. Scott Curtis is an excellent investigator, but proven police administrator not. The last two imports, Stephen L. Kuhn and Joel Fitzgerald were colossal failures. Kuhn was ran out of town and Fitzgerald followed the money. The promotions of Morris and Dorney were so premature that they both waited for minimum pension time and left for smaller and less stressful environments. Morris and Dorney were both victims of the Pawlowski DROP pension plan wherein the natural maturation process for young promising police administrators was bypassed. Kuhn and Fitzgerald were totally out for themselves, not the citizens of Allentown. We have learned that both of these avenues do not work. Therefore, the only logical choice is to look back at some of the institutional knowledge that walked out the door; prior to and during the great pension exodus. There was great talent that simply left and are prolific today in other capacities in law enforcement. A lot of naysayers state that looking back is not forward, however, reestablishing basic policing concepts, along with steady management, can be the solution that is desired. Carson S. Gable III.
ReplyDeleteI like the thought BUT have you been drinking the water up north in Angle's neck of the woods? It is not gonna happen.
ReplyDeleteThis is a monumentally bad idea.
ReplyDeleteI realize that we're talking about Allentown, and some have become accustomed to (and accepting of) conflicts of interest, but NO investigator should have an opportunity to accept employment with ANY entity (individual/company/governmental) that they've investigated.
This is not a knock on Curtis, who is a highly-respected professional with an excellent record. Every resident of the Lehigh Valley should thank him for his work in Allentown.
But to allow ANY investigator (who plays a part in determining whether what he's investigating is prosecutable or not) to later accept employment with the entity they've investigated is just plain wrong. If this were allowed, it's not hard to imagine an unscrupulous investigator turning a blind eye to some evidence to obtain later employment, or to be overly aggressive in some cases to open positions that they could slide into.
My suspicion (or at least hope) is that the FBI already has rules in place that would prevent this from happening.
An FBI agent and a well experienced cop are two different things. The FBI agent like Curtis would be great as an ethics and standards director or something but NOT a police chief. Curtis would have ZERO clue on how to police a city but would easily be able to wire tap cousin Vinny, turn a rat and take out a crime organization. Nice theory though.
ReplyDeleteThere is a big difference between law enforcement at the federal level, the state level and municipal level. Many are impressed when they hear ex-FBI (or other federal law enforcement), retired State Police/Highway patrol, etc. While some of these turn out to be very good at running a municipal police department, many do not understand the operations and challenges associated with local law enforcement. Also most municipal police departments have very limited resources to do the job then they are used to at the federal and state levels. Also most federal and state agencies don't deal as closely with the general public as a municipal agency and don't understand the intricacies involved. I don't know if Agent Curtis is up to the job or not, but just because he has FBI credentials doesn't automatically mean he is the right person to lead a municipal police department. More likely then not an outside person will be another "stay until I qualify for a pension" person.
ReplyDeleteScott Curtis wouldn’t work for the City of Allentown for all the dirty money in the Lehigh Valley X4.
ReplyDeleteNot in a million years.
Interesting comments. My immediate reaction was, is Bernie dreaming or is he back on the bottle? Watching the machinations in Allentown has been fascinating as they bring in police chiefs from outside who do not work out to promoting from within, and that doesn't work out. What will they do this time?
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to watch is how the new school superintendent works out. Ecorse, MI was a tough town when I lived in MI forty years and is probably ten times worse today. With his background I hope he can do the job, but he has a lot of factions to deal with.
P.S. - Keep up the good fight Bernie
"Scott Curtis wouldn’t work for the City of Allentown for all the dirty money in the Lehigh Valley X4.
ReplyDeleteNot in a million years."
He probably has numerous options.
"but NO investigator should have an opportunity to accept employment with ANY entity (individual/company/governmental) that they've investigated."
ReplyDeleteI could see that during the course of an investigation, but not after it is over. I see no conflict. But I get your point.
In which galaxy is Planet Kratom?
ReplyDeleteSamsung.
ReplyDeleteBernie, maybe he'll be working with the massad computer meltdown designed for the past administration for a cool quick million dollar grant grab insurance fraud subZidy! But than again I am sure Mr Curtis will want nothing to to with the local cesspool swamp creatures!
ReplyDeleteRepublican redd
not a party favor
I nominate Frank Reagan.
ReplyDelete