Local Government TV

Monday, October 26, 2020

NorCo Dedicates Its First Ever Forensic Center


Administrator Charles Dertinger,
with his ubiquitous bowtie

On Friday, Northampton County dedicated its first ever forensic center. At a price tag of $11 million, it was finished on time and under budget notwithstanding the pandemic. This is thanks to Administrator Charles Dertinger, who was a construction manager in the private sector. This might be another first for NorCo. Dertinger said the County only lost five days as a result of Governor Tom Wolf's construction shutdown. 

The ribbon cutting took place at a brief ceremony attended by numerous county officials, including President Judge Michael J Koury, Jr,, and Judges Stephen Baratta and Abe Kassis. Upper Nazareth Township Supervisors were also present. Coroner Zach Lysek, who has lobbied for a forensic center for decades, was thrilled by the new facility. 

For many years, Lysek operated out of a cramped office at Louise Moore Park, The new facility, located next to the 911 Center, includes the following features:

* Family reception and private meeting rooms.

* Two autopsy rooms with a viewing area for law enforcement and medical school students.

* Digital forensic lab.

* Offices for Coroner's staff.

* Five-bay garage with receiving and storage area. 

* Solar panels.

* Capacity for future expansion. 

* Secure lockers to preserve chain of custody for evidence and personal effects.

Following speeches and the obligatory ribbon cutting, the doors were thrown open for a tour. 

Having listened to Lysek explain a few times just what he and his staff do, I was a bit hesitant to walk in there. Lysek kept giving me a knowing smile, which made me wonder whether I'd be walking out. To make matters worse, I tripped on a step in the viewing room and went down as hard as an Eagles running back. After that, a forensic pathologist began following me. 


Someone suggested I lie down on the table you see above, but I passed.


For reasons that elude me, numerous people insisted on photographing me next to this sign. (Yes, I still cut my own hair.)


This is not just a storage room, but it's refrigerated as well.

11 comments:

  1. Way past time. The corner is a decent guy and hung in for years with a bad set up! Kudos to him!
    McClure and Dertinger are the same type of people. Fakes and frauds, nice to your face and complete asshats otherwise. I've heard both have bad tempers and are mean. Both while on Council, ignored the wants and needs of the public. Dertinger has been called a union hack from NYC mucking up the Valley like so many other folks from NY. Plus how does one pronounce his name? I hear McClure say it differently every time. Plus, McClure has that "right Charles" running gag with him, it's so overdone like any 7 year old would. So,on to the next project tearing down history in Lower Saucon.
    McClure is so busy trying to so everything that has not been done in the last 50 years in Northampton County, all to make a name for himself. He tends to forget that there are other folks in the County who disagree with his agenda and have wants and needs that he refuses to hear.
    As a candidate, McClure made promises of transparency, compassion and civility. When does the transparency start? Why wasn't this event open to the public? John Brown was correct, McClure tells good stories? The compassion isn't real as for civility, I don't know, I walked right past him and he couldn't even say hello. I had an issues and he would never speak to me about it.
    The ribbon cutter looked expensive, does that saved for the next time? And what happened to those shovels from the ground breaking?
    You might want to stay out of there Bernie, we may never see you again... I just can't understand the 16000 tons of earth needed to level that spot to build it?

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  2. 1) There would be no forensic center were it not for McClure.

    2) The dedication was announced at a very open Council meeting.

    3) Based on your attitude, I would ignore you, too.

    4) The ribbon cutter and shovels are all saved.

    5) You can't understand bc frankly, there does not appear to be going much on upstairs. Maybe some earth needs to be moved inside your head.

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  3. You still cut your own hair? What hair?

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  4. "There would be no forensic center were it not for McClure."

    We know you love McClure and are almost a part of his demonstration but would it not be correct to say without a majority of the county council there would be no multi-million dollar morgue? Or do you think they are there to work for him like you want.

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  5. Bernie, do they run the cold room with no bodies in it? I would think that room could cost a fortune to keep running. Will organ donor harvesting occur concurrently in this room too?

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  6. Progress noted. Another project left for dead by Brown and his sidekick Allen. Kudos to the county for doing the right thing.

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  7. "We know you love McClure and are almost a part of his demonstration but would it not be correct to say without a majority of the county council there would be no multi-million dollar morgue?"

    It's called "administration," not "demonstration." Certainly, this does not happen without County Council. They had to approve the funding. My comment above, in response to an attack, is an equally true statement that this project would never have happened without McClure. That's just reality.

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  8. Dearest Bernard, please assure us that you were issued at the front door a name tag and not a TOE TAG!

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  9. What a gold-plated boondoggle. Wow. We needed a center. We didn't need all this. They spend money like it's not theirs because it's not theirs.

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  10. The coroner does not perform any autopsies. What a waste of money. Name one county in our area that has a facility that costs 11 million dollars. I hope and pray that my loved one gets a gold leaf toe tag while visiting the facility.

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  11. The coroner does not perform any autopsies. What a waste of money. Name one county in our area that has a facility that costs 11 million dollars. I hope and pray that my loved one gets a gold leaf toe tag while visiting the facility.

    ReplyDelete

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