City police and officials held a public safety meeting the evening of Aug. 11, and though viewers online were disappointed when a technical flaw cut the audio before the 20-minute mark, the meeting eventually resumed and a second part ran for another five hours.

Police relayed statistics, assured listeners that they approve of new legislation, spoke at length with council members and answered call-ins from concerned citizens.

Legislation

Chief Mark DiLuzio specifically addressed the legislation issue, which has seen renewed state and national discussion following George Floyd’s death while in police custody in May. National proposals have largely fallen along partisan lines, but DiLuzio says he’s in favor of stringent new rules and guidelines for officer use of force and departmental oversight.

“New legislation in Pennsylvania has been introduced recently,” he said. “I think it’s great.”

After all, he says, Bethlehem’s is one of the finest police departments in Pennsylvania, having garnered and held both state and national accreditation, a feat accomplished by only 4 percent of all departments nationwide.

“Our requirements are higher,” he said. “We train more and specialized units train even more.”

Legislation requiring all departments to achieve higher standards can only make for better policing, he says.

And though it’s never promoted chokeholds and strangleholds, police policy has recently added verbiage renouncing their use except in life-or-death circumstances.

Use of force

Bethlehem police have used force in 4.6 percent of arrests in the last five and 10 years, DiLuzio said, and those statistics are all now available for viewing on the department’s website.

“The use of force isn’t based upon any one person; it’s based upon the resistance offered by a subject when he or she is being arrested. Most people don’t resist arrest. Resistance is the key factor. No resistance, no level of force by the officer.”

DiLuzio said he favors other suggestions that have become common topics nationwide recently, such as expanding social service coverage to 24 hours and increasing pay. More robust mental health and addiction services will help police across the country, he said.

Complaints

When asked about civilian review, civilian complaints and officer discipline, DiLuzio said there is no way to review complaints that aren’t made, but that the current process does work. He said in his tenure as chief, 11 officers have been fired, terminated, resigned pending discipline or were arrested and left.

“Under accreditation, complaints and discipline and use of force are in the top category. If you don’t handle your department, and it goes out of control, like in some places in this country. We all can agree on that. This is a good department.”

The police discussion lasted until about the two-hour mark of part two, followed by discussion of the proposed Community Engagement Initiative.

Social justice

The initiative is developing as a response to inadequacies of social justice nationwide, and to investigate and address local disparities in education, healthcare, mental health, housing discrimination, racism and other issues, and making certain not just police, but city leaders are actively working toward a more equitable city.

This conversation was about how to include disparate groups and entities throughout the city in meaningful conversation on their own terms and apply the lessons learned.

Public Safety Committee Chair Michael Colon said that while this sort of social and cultural effort is a matter of increments, but so long as community members are willing to show up, share their perspectives and listen to those of others, the work will continue.

Public comment

The public comment portion of the meeting lasted about two-and-a-half hours, and scores of people waited in a queue to speak. Some of them were supportive of police while accepting that improvements can be made while others were highly critical of the police and of DiLuzio’s responses.

A number of residents called in to harrangue council over its decision to abolish the police department, which obviously never happened.

But a positive indicator for the Bethlehem community is a number of callers said they are professionals in sciences, social service or medicine, and offered to participate in future forums and assist both the city and department with their expertise.

Both parts of the meeting are available to view on city council’s YouTube channel.