Opening Salvos Fired in Citizen Initiative to Have Social Workers, Not Police, Respond to 9-1-1 Calls

Last night, Allentown City Council conducted its first meeting concerning a citizen initiative that would require County dispatchers to send social workers, and not police officers, to respond to most 9-1-1 calls. (You can see the proposed ordinance here.) A city initiative requires the assent of 2,000 registered Allentown voters. City Clerk Mike Hanlon has confirmed that the petition is sufficient. City Council has 60 days in which to adopt, reject or take no action on this ordinance. It has no power to amend. Only the citizen petitioners' committee can authorize revisions. If the matter is rejected or no action is taken, it must be forwarded to the county as a ballot initiative for the voters in November.  Though the only action taken last night was to refer this matter to a committee, opening salvos were heard from both sides of this question.  Eight people, made up mostly of those who circulated the petition, spoke in support. Six people, including Police Chief Charles Roca, are opposed.  

The pro-social worker crowd included two Bethlehem residents, Allison Michael and John Irons. They are both members of Lehigh Valley Stands Up, a group that wants to "divest from institutions that have harmed our communities [police?] and invest in equitable solutions that will benefit everyone." Irons is also running for Lehigh County Comm'r.  Michael said she was "excited" about this measure coming to Allentown, though she doesn't live there. Irons said the proposal is an "extremely, extremely popular thing." He added that almost every person he visited had a story about a time when they called police for help, but received none.

Matt H (?) said that sending social workers in most instances is a "more appropriate and compassionate response to those in need." He argued this saves taxpayer money in the long run by reducing unnecessary arrests and incarcerations.

Rodney Bush, a Hasshan Batts minion and City Council candidate who participated in the "Fuck the Police" rallies during the summer of 2020, amazingly still insisted that police acted inappropriately when they assisted an out-of-control addict who was stumbling and puking in the middle of the street on his way to get detoxed at a local hospital. He insists police should have sought medical attention when it was in fact hospital personnel who asked police to place a spit hood on this guy's face so he wouldn't bite or spit at them. Bush added that 26% of Americans "do suffer from mental health."   Say what?  Chief Charles Roca would later tell City Council that police actions probably saved this guy's life. That's certainly true, For one thing, they prevented this addict from getting run over in the middle of a busy street. But maybe they should have waited for a social worker.  

Social worker Lyla Lopez (sp?) loves the idea. After all, it gives her job security.  She said cops are on ego trips and abuse their authority. She's a victim of "secondary trauma," whatever that means, from police brutality.  "It's important to have people like myself, social workers who understand things from a humanistic perspective." She added this measure is "going to help liberate our people." 

April Riddick, another circulator, said that when you call for an ambulance and police arrive first, "That's a problem." Really? In what country is a fast first responder response to a medical emergency a bad thing? She went on to claim a "disconnect" between police and the black and brown community. 

Another pro-initiative speaker, Carol Molnar, said that seeing armed police respond to her during a bipolar episode upset her and made her miss teaching three months of classes. 

The final pro speaker, a Miss Wirth (sp?) claimed this is an open, democratic process even though pretty much nobody affected by it were consulted. 

This failure was driven home by La Mega Radio owner Victor Martinez, who is also running for Lehigh County Comm'r. He said pro-social worker people should have consulted with Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca, and their failure to do so was irresponsible, especially since this is going to cost $4 million over just one year. He added that "9-1-1 operators don't work for the City. They work for the County. The fact that the County hasn't been included in this conversation is irresponsible. The fact that no one has talked to the 9-1-1 Center and 9-1-1 operators to see if they would like to take this responsibility, is irresponsible. They are the ones at the front line. They are the ones that are going to have to answer the phone and make the decision, and no one has asked them if they want that responsibility. Are we gonna' train them? Is that part of the discussion? Are we gonna' train the 9-1-1 operators so they know and understand what decision to make under pressure?" 

Dr. William Vogler, CEO of Pinebrook Family Answers, said his nonprofit is already integrating social workers into the police force. "That $4 million could be spent on so many other things that Allentown needs, and we know what those are. Housing. Homelessness, Food insecurity. Child care. To spend $4 million to replicate CAHOOTS here when we already have systems in place to achieve those goals, I think, is irresponsible spending." He also pointed out that "[w]e only have to pay cursory attention to the news to know how violent things are right now in America. I would not want to be that dispatcher that makes that decision on a split second, which service goes where. "

James Spang, with Riverfront Civic Ass'n, provided a practical example of what's wrong with this ordinance.  "If somebody's screaming in the street, I call the police. I don't know if he's fighting with another guy or his girlfriend threw him out or whatever. Now you're saying I should tell you whether he's having a mental health crisis or is a victim. I can't make that decision and I'm not going to walk out in the middle of the street and ask the guy, 'Why are you screaming in the middle of the street?''"

Then there's Jessica Ortiz , Realtor for the People, who claims she's been both a victim and gang banger.  She lives at 5th and Tilghman. "We're the ones who have the police come out. The police are on our block once a day. I don't want a counselor. I am a counselor. ... I don't want a counselor coming out if my neighbor is about to shoot his wife because he's having a mental breakdown." She noted the distrust between some people and police, but suggests this move just exacerbates it. She is appalled at the disrespect to Chief Roca and asked why everyone wasn't called to the table. "That's that secret shit that we do." 

Barry Simpson (sp) has a brother who is autistic but said these measures "have to be fiscally responsible. " 

Last, but certainly not least, was Chief Charles Roca: "This proposal does not collaborate with anyone. This was something that went out to the community and did not have input from anybody. In my mind, this meets police abolitionist goals and 'defund the police' rhetoric, which is what we hear throughout, and that is not the appropriate way ... . Our men and women of the Allentown Police Department work hard every day, and Pinebrook isn't the only agency that we collaborate with. This includes Lehigh County Crisis, Children and Youth, our health networks. We have Sgt Yost (sp?), who does a lot of good work going to get his doctorate, and making sure that our CIT-trained officers are deescalating in our community, and helping out our people that are most in need and most vulnerable." 

He disputed language in the proposed ordinance stating that police are often ill-prepared to deal with a crisis, "That's not true. We have successfully de-escalated many incidents that we come across where the person does not go to jail and there's not loss of life, but rather, they get taken to a hospital for further treatment. I want to make it clear that police officers are first responders. and as first responders, one of the things that we do is we de-escalate. We meet that need. We're able to communicate with people and provide them from going from a manic phase or a very depressed phase back to a normal level." 

"Our police department will treat people with respect, but we do so safely," he remarked. He indicated mental health services can complement, but not supplant, a police response. He referred to several programs like Blue Guardian. which sends a treatment specialist to visit the lucky people who survive  an overdose. 

In addition to a complete refusal to bother to consult with the police or county, Chief Roca noted that pro-social worker enthusiasts refuse to allow social workers who once served as police officers. "This is divisive," he concluded. "This proposal was not done with any collaboration." 

Mayor Matt Tuerk listened attentively to everyone and had some remarks of his own. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what they are because he refuses to use his damn mike. I thought that only happened in Northampton County. I did catch him saying that his wife and son signed the petition, but he does not believe they were fully informed.  

I had no problem hearing City Council Prez Daryl Hendricks. He said Council had "no input on this whatsoever." This was disputed by Ce-Ce Gerlach, who is running for re-election and thinks this is a great idea. That alone should be a reason to reject this goofy idea, if the County even agrees to put it on the ballot. Lest we forget, let me remind you that 1. She dropped a kid off at a homeless camp and the kid was sexually assaulted; 2. She posted a video to her Facebook of a guy committing suicide before his family was informed; 3. She voted against free $100,000 for the police; 4. She was at a rally that was shouting "fuck the police;" 5. She has voted against every new police officer; and 6. She ran a lemonade stand as her business when she got canned. 

Allentown can do better this. ... I hope.