Allentown's a mess. The inmates are running the asylum. Yesterday, I saw a procession of 13 witnesses blather on about nonexistent voter suppression of the Latinx community for five hours. I saw an Elections Board refer an elections judge for criminal investigation even though they had to know there was zero evidence she acted maliciously. They punted, and will let the DA or state AG tell the unpleasant truth rather than upset the mob. Later that night, I watched Allentown City Council wrestle themselves for about four hours with a goofy resolution aimed primarily at weakening its police department. As they discussed defunding the police, the mob periodically pounded on the windows. Allentown City Council punted, too. They will wait until August 12 before adopting a resolution of some sort. But there will be no defunding of the police department. It's already happened, according to Chief Glenn Granitz.
Josh Siegel and C-Ce Gerlach will claim systemic racism, and there very well might be, but they should look to themselves. 'the fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our Stars but in ourselves." Ce-Ce Gerlach, for example, participated in a rally that screamed both "F--- the Police" and "F--- Daryl Hendricks," but last night denied she herself uttered those words. That's like Bill Clinton claiming he smoked marijuana but didn't inhale. Josh Siegel had to apologize for releasing Mayor Ray O'Connell's private phone number and doxing hiom at that same rally, but did so in an arrogant and vulgar tone. "I f---ed up," he said in a public meeting.
Siegel, of course, remained defiant. "I've been called a hypocrite in recent weeks, and frankly, it's a crock of crap. I'm not a hypocrite."
Really? I'm pretty sure a person who claims to be a champion of the working poor, but who wants to impose both an income tax and a regressive sales tax on them, is a hypocrite. But few love to hear the sins they commit.
Siegel wants to "reimagine" public safety "and look for ways we can spend our money better". He said cops should not be "the first freakin' call" when someone has a mental health or substance abuse crisis.
I see. Call a social worker? As Council President Daryl Hendricks pointed out, cops were doing their job during the 13 weeks that Lehigh County's Children and Youth caseworkers were in their cocoons*, "teleworking" from home, or more likely, their beach houses. He added that no social worker would have responded to the staggering drug addict who was puking outside of Sacred Heart.
Ed Zucal said defunding would be a "disaster."
Sadly, it's already happened. According to Chief Glenn Granitz, Allentown's police department has shrunk from a complement of 242 officers in 2003 to just 216 today, and in a city that's growing. He noted his officers are out there 24/7, 365 days a year. "I in no way, shape or form say that we are adequately staffed as it stands now."
Chief Granitz wants to study how best to implement community policing, and will be seeking money from City Council to hire a consultant.
Allentown's Fraternal Order of Police had something to say, too, directly to Siegel:
"In March 2019, you appeared at a regular monthly meeting of the Queen City [FOP]. You were seeking the FOP's endorsement of your campaign for City Council. While speaking at our meeting, you looked our members in the eye and detailed your vision and commitment to supporting the hardworking men and women of the Allentown Police Department. As a result if your words at our meeting, you received the endorsement of our members.
"Recently you have been regurgitating anti-police rhetoric and behave in a petulant manner that prioritizes politics over public safety and community service. You are attempting to drive a wedge between Allentown police and the citizens we proudly serve, and you will not succeed.
"Nothing disgusts our members more than a politician who betrays us when in front of camera or microphone.
"Upon consideration of your ignorant, blatantly uninformed and unnecessary comments and your failure to stand behind the men and women you claim to support, this lodge has rescinded its endorsement of your City Council candidacy. As such, you no longer have the privilege of claiming you are endorsed by the Queen City [FOP]."
*) The observation about caseworkers in their cocoons, teleworking from their homes and beach houses, is my own editorial aside. Hendricks made no such statement. I did.
28 comments:
The police want to pull an endorsement--fine that is their business.
The rest of the the thin blue whine?-please drop the snowflake routine.
grow a pair and remove those bad apples that make all police look bad.
Most police work to help society,some police act as an occupying army.
While defunding the police is just another attempt at creating chaos, there are a few positive things possible with police reform.
One would be to take the police out of the drug overdose business entirely, call a social worker.
Another would be depression and possible suicide calls that are not violent, Call a social worker.
It may be a good idea to take the police out of these matters and free them up to focus on crime.
Some claim that in domestic unrest cases they should send a counselor, I can bet the police would support that in a heart beat.
Same goes with calls from parents complaining about their unruly kids. they should take care of it themselves.
The police need the support of the community, but they cannot deal with things that people should deal with themselves.
Lots of smart white folks with more smart solutions to the minority community's problems. If you can't appreciate the irony in this, you haven't been paying attention. But hey, let's give it another whirl because whites know what minorities need and the government is always here to help minorities. The results speak for themselves.
Hard to describe siegel at this time as Ahole would be taken as complimentary. Will have to get back to ya!
"Lots of smart white folks with more smart solutions to the minority community's problems."
Excellent observation.
"The rest of the the thin blue whine?-please drop the snowflake routine.
grow a pair and remove those bad apples that make all police look bad."
LOL. You tell police to grow a pair while you lack the courage to ID yourself. And nobody hates a bad cop more than a good cop.
6:465, You're absolutely nutz if you think entitled social workers would be willing to deal with a drug overdose emergency or domestic violence. You can't get them to go out on the calls they should.
Wow, lots of criticisms for social workers!
Certainly some lazy, the same in any profession!
Sad.
They do a lot of good in the Community! Ask some families whom they have aided over the years!
Police are certainly needed for domestics, a real risky thing even for police who are armed!
Possibly help with other situations in which a known Mentally I’ll or Autistic Adult involved!
Our social workers showed their true colors during the pandemic. Frankly, I think if anything should be defunded, it's them. I have spoken to families who have fairly low opinions of these caseworkers. Perhaps I am wrong. That is my bias. I actually have never thought much of social sciences and notice that those who majored in this course of study were mostly slackers.
I guess we have the 911 operator ask the caller "Do you think there's a chance of violence?"
Based on that yes or no answer, a decision can be made whether to send a cop or someone with a BA in Social Work.
What could go wrong?
"Lots of smart white folks with more smart solutions to the minority community's problems." 6:52am
"Excellent observation". B.O. responds.
I didn't see anyone commenting, indicate their race, and are you both telling us readers that there is a difference between how minority's raise their kids and white people raise theirs? Then i wouldn't be wrong to say the white people do a better job then minorities?
I'll wait for the retractions/explanations.
Since the virus came along, the number of teen suicides and drug overdoses has dwarfed the number of teens who've died from the virus. Hat's off to teachers and social workers for protecting themselves when the chips were down. The kids have been abandoned, however, with deadly consequences.
I suggest Daryl Hendricks pay a visit to the director of Lehigh County C&Y to see what the caseworkers have been doing, I know for a fact they were not just sitting home or at their beach houses. And I doubt there are many caseworkers who can afford a beach house!
9:56, I know that’s untrue.
I think that most social workers entered the profession with good intentions and enthusiasm, but in a public job are exposed to unions that promote minimal effort for maximum pay and benefits. Over time, even the most sincere, hard-working caseworkers are ostracized and worn down by the indifference of union leaders. That in turn creates a lack of public trust and a loss of respect for the profession.
9:44, you’ll get none from me. The comment was obviously in reference to white know it alls like Siegel.
I watched the meeting video. Hendricks at around 2 hours 27 minutes in said for 13 weeks county caseworkers weren't available, so police officers ended up responding to a lot of calls that should have been handled by social workers, and he has a real problem with it.
He did not specify the workers as being from the C&Y agency.
He also never said anything about them being in a "cocoon" or "owning beach houses."
The City posted the video at http://allentownpa.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=896
You are correct. I did not quote him making that statement, which is my own observation. I think I need to clarify so he is not tagged for my own editorial aside.
Random thoughts:
- So what repercussions have Gerlach and Siegel faced from their colleagues on Council for their recent behavior? I seem to remember Councilman Zucal making a comment on this blog on a previous post that some sort of censure should be expected.
- I have a hard time feeling sorry for the police union. They've spent the last few decades tripping over themselves to endorse democrat after democrat. I'd say they're now reaping what they've sowed.
- I hope they first try out this "reimagined" public safety experiment in the neighborhoods of anyone in government stupid enough to vote for it. For the rest of us, we'll take the police they don't want and have them added to the minimal patrols our neighborhoods.
- Speaking of which, does Council still have a police officer in Chambers for public meetings? Maybe once the pandemic eases they should try a social worker there instead.
- Have the police been outside City Hall during the council meetings to keep the mob in line? Maybe that needs to end too.
Bernie 7.49, dont call people who agree with the protesters crazy. These are things that have been put forward from the BLM defund and reform police crowd. Why fight them, give them and their allies in the social services what they want. This is an area that the protesters and police can agree on. Let's do it
2:47 - Bullshit!
First of all, I don't believe the city does much (or any) social work. The county does that with funding from the state.
So they are proposing a "solution" that would create a new, expensive bureaucracy for an already cash-strapped city.
Secondly, there is no way in hell it makes sense to send social workers to most of the calls the police handle. You need the authority to arrest to maintain order. Have you seen can happen with something as simple as a fast-food employee asking customers to wear a mask? That can quickly escalate to something greater than a social worker can handle. So on many "social worker" calls, you'd end up needing an officer anyway.
Third, these idiots are proposing taking much-needed funding away from the city police department. As Bernie notes, the police department is already underfunded and understaffed. I don't know if you live in the city, but we need more police officers, not less.
Finally, I hate to break it to you but the whole idea of cops (white cops per the protesters narrative) going out to gun down or otherwise kill unarmed black people is a myth. The statistics are incredibly low on that. When it does wrongly happen, those involved should be charged and go to trial. That's the way the system should work, for everyone.
In the Allentown incident, the officer used proper force to handle what became a difficult situation. I doubt most of us, social workers included (and no knock on them) would have wanted to be within 20 feet of a vomiting person during a pandemic. That the cop still was willing to try to render aid is commendable. It was not the officer's choosing to escalate the situation, but rather the actions of the drunk individual.
I realize that those seeking political gain from it are trying to make it more than it was, but let's get real. The protester leaders' 15 minutes of fame are up.
7.45
"And nobody hates a bad cop more than a good cop."
And the FOP came out and condemned the cop that closed off breathing for 8 minutes?
Did not see that in the news.
What you get is a protective umbrella that surrounds the bad cop with every possible break given even when it is clear the cop stepped over the line.
If i remember correctly some time ago in Allentown a no knock warrant with the cops slamming a married couple (who happened to be naked) on the bedroom floor,while tearing their house apart and screaming where's the drugs?.
Turns out they police had the wrong address.
When they finally figured it out they just left.
No apology, not even an offer to pay for the door and other damages.
They just walked away.
Took a lawsuit to just get damages and it was dragged out as long as possible.
The officer responsible lost two days vacation.
How he managed to go on after that is a mystery but his FOP claimed it was no big deal and why the couple was bitching when the police were just doing their job.
So let's see the good cops weed out those bad apples.
If the good cops detest bad cops they are kinda slacking on the job because it takes folks marching in the streets to try to get anything done.
"And the FOP came out and condemned the cop that closed off breathing for 8 minutes?
Did not see that in the news."
Almost immediately after the George Floyd murder, Chief Glenn Granitz was on Toomey Anderson's "Awesome Show," condemned the murder and repeatedly said, "Black lives matter." He leads APD, and I wrote about it. There are more sources of news than Black Lives LV.
Personally I think Affa saying "stop and frisk is good" and applauding the crowd outside City Hall who were flying a white supremacist flag & shouting racial slurs at the BLM folks is far more vulgar and unbecoming of the office than anything Siegel or Gerlach have said. Will Zucal put forward a resolution to censure her as well?
2.47
" otherwise kill unarmed black people is a myth"
Yeah the video of that happening is available in many instances.
" When it does wrongly happen, those involved should be charged and go to trial. That's the way the system should work, for everyone."
Except those cops will get the leanest punishment possible.
Numerous cases have happened with the cops skating on basically executing folks.
The cop kneeling on the neck till death will probably get more time for tax fraud
How did the choke hold on a guy selling single cigarettes (evil demonic crime?)work out.
Is the cop breaking rocks in the hot sun?
at 5:35 PM. Affa has always been a good marxist. Nice try though. Thanks Josh and Cece.
One term!
but Trump is racist!!!lol
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