Ed Zucal was the first to comment, lamenting a "demoralizing lack of support [for the police] from Council members [and the] Mayor." He noted 23 officers are set to retire. "Unless you want a City that is going to be in complete chaos, you better start supporting the police," he warned.
That got Mayor Ray O'Connell's Irish up, especially after Zucal told him, "You've made no statement for or against the police." O'Connell countered that public safety was his top priority when he ran in 2017 and 2019.
"I talk the officers every day." he said as he wagged a finger at Zucal. "I support the Allentown Police Department and I support the officers. And you know what? If they do a great job, I'm there. And if they don't do a great job, we have fired people under my watch. ... You don't have to make public statements all the time and say, 'I support, I support.' You know what my public statement is? My actions. ... They know I support them."
Julio Guridy said there's a wall between some members of the community and police."We need to break that wall," he said. "We need to support both the rights of the people to peacefully protest and also support the police." He opposes vandalism, and said he experienced some vandalism at one of his properties during the night of one of the protests. Ce-Ce Gerlach said it wan't from the protesters, but later admitted some participants have been from Philly and NYC and had to be calmed down. Chief Glenn Granitz said the persons who vandalized Guridy's property have been charged and they were not local protesters.
Guridy said he supports police 100% and believes they should be given "the right tools" to support crime. He supports the right of people to protest, but does not condone the use of profanities like those hurled by Promise Neighborhoods Hasshan Batts. "I have children, I have grandchildren, and I don't want my children to be listening to - especially from people who are leaders, saying the F word out there, publicly."
Josh Siegel, who considers himself the smartest person in the room, said everyone should be more "nuanced" and avoid words like "chaos." Really? Last week, Siegel was attempting to justify "Fuck the Police" as a cultural reference.
Chief Glenn Granitz, who has had to put up with more bullshit than anyone in Allentown, said, "I will continue to work with everyone and anyone." He told Siegel and Gerlach that they both have complained, and rightly, of mischaracterizations and overgeneralizations. He encouraged them "not to do the same thing when it comes to City of Allentown employees and police officers ... because there [have] been rushes to judgment." He also pointed out that Siegel, as a county employee, should know that many of the social services agencies have been MIA during the pandemic, leaving their work to the police. "You know there's no other support or help there," he said to Gerlach, as someone who is constantly running for something or promoting some cause. He asked this duo to give police "the same respect that I try to give everyone. I think we owe that to everybody."
8 comments:
Well it shows protests can have some effect yet the resolution points out some glaring examples.
Why is there no written policy directive requiring an officer to intervene and report excessive use of force?
When "officer nice " is curb stomping someone for a broken taillight his partner "officer friendly" gets to claim there is no written requirement for him to do anything.
Therefore he cannot be disciplined which would be the claim made to the arbitrator.
The resolution suggests a report on "use of force"?
How about demanding it instead.
What most likely will happen is a couple of months down the road nothing will have been done
The budget will determine police coverage. Allentown is broke and will have to continue to reduce the police force, as it has for several years. As flight from cities heats up (just look at today's ridiculous suburban property values), fewer contributors will necessitate continued budget cutting. Wokeness is costly to cities, especially when people who are able, simply up and leave.
I hope the citizens and fearless leaders in Allentown realize how lucky they are to have Chief Granitz. I believe he is the reason we have not had riots in Allentown.
I'm glad there is recognition that there are out/town influences at play here.
Mayor O'Connell, you're wrong. You need to be more visible than ever, and you're not. Get out and be seen.
Josh Siegel is an experienced kid who knows only what he's being told by Ms. Zrinski. I really hope people don't get hurt or die due to his lack of maturity.
Granitz is a saint. When council was passing their crony based Noise Exemption District for the Maingate, he patiently explained that although the police department was already overworked and under staffed, he would abide by their decision.
Chief Glenn Granitz has been out talking with the public more frequently then any other chief. As for the mayor.. he's not suppose to take sides as these two dissenters on council want him to. There is only one side.. fairness to each. With these two council members biases they seem unable to comprehend this.
Allentown is very fortunate to have Chief Granitz at this moment in time. He is a true professional.
Granitz is a really good man in a losing situation. But money will dictate the future and this year's events have triggered a flight from cities not seen since the 70s. Hopefully it won't take three decades to bring people back. Cities should expect a return to urban shells for the foreseeable future. The reckoning is here, sadly.
How about the citizens as well as two on counsel respect themselves as well as the city they live in and not be such assklowns. Take a drive or walk into the most henious parts of the city and see if respect is giving them or the public throws garbage at them like a bad play actor.
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