It has been fun the last couple of
weeks reporting on and writing about some of our neighbors who are
upset with the new chief of police here in New Bethlehem. A lot of
us don't handle changes well and Chief Malnofsky and the new police
force is definitely a change from the reign of Chief Ryan. Far be it
from me to say one system was better than the other – but, policing
in New Bethlehem is different than it used to be. What is
interesting to me, is how differently some of us are seeing the same
thing.
Most of the complaints about the new
chief and his officers are coming from several of the social clubs in
New Bethlehem and East Brady. It seems like some of the members of
these clubs think that the new New Bethlehem Police Department is
singling out club members for harassment. According to these
spokespersons, it seems like the NB cops are spending an inordinate
amount of time "stalking" club members and skulking around
the parking lots looking for people to harass on car safety
violations and DUI's and such.
It is not paranoia when they really are
out to get you.
According to New Bethlehem's Borough
Council President, Sandy Mateer, reorganizing and restructuring the
police department was in the works before Chief Ryan decided to see
if the grass really was greener on that side of the fence. Mrs.
Mateer says that a lot of residents have been expressing concern
about the lack of policing going on in the area. Adequate police
protection is essential for the orderly growth, or revitalization, of
a community. That is one of the driving forces behind many of the
civic leaders in New Bethlehem here in the second decade of the 21st
century; to revitalize and renew the community in New Bethlehem and
the Redbank Valley.
Part of the plans for reorganizing the
NBPD was adding more full-time officers, having at least 2 officers
on each shift, and splitting the coverage territory into 2 districts
– New Bethlehem area and the Rimersburg - East Brady area. Longer
range plans would eventually see a police substation in East Brady.
With 2 officers on duty each shift and the work area clearly defined,
Borough Council hoped to have greater police visibility and coverage.
It's always good to have a plan.
Having a plan “b” is usually a good
idea, too.
There are 2 pretty well-defined sides
to the current NB cop debate. One side wants more policing and the
other side, not so much policing. What is best for the community as
a whole? Who really should decide how the police do their work? In
an ideal, Libertarian world, everybody would respect everybody else
and we wouldn't need police. That ain happening on this side of the
Pearly Gates, so we have to accept some amount of policing as part of
the price that we pay for living in a civilized society. Such as it
is.
But, I digress. There has to be some
amount, some degree of police enforcement in order to maintain that
civil society. We don't always realize just how many laws,
regulations, and ordinances we have allowed the Ruling Class to
impose upon us! It is likely that every one of us breaks a bunch of
laws every day without ever knowing it. No police department in the
world can enforce all of the laws that we, living in the supposedly
"land of the free" are bound by. Every police department
has to be directed by a legislative body to prioritize the laws,
regulations, and ordinances to enforce. The New Bethlehem Police
Department is under the direction of the New Bethlehem Borough
Council. The priority of enforcement, then, comes from the Borough
Council.
In theory, we “the people” direct
the Police Department through the Borough Council.
In theory. Seriously.
I think that if we are honest, each of
us has things that we think the police should pay more attention to
while paying less attention to other things. I imagine that some of
us think that Ordinance enforcement is a waste of the police's time,
while some of us probably don't think car safety (brake lights, turn
signals, etc.) are an awfully big deal. Most of us probably think
that violent crimes against people and property should be a priority
of any police department – probably not much disagreement there.
The disagreement comes in how much enforcement we want to see in
other areas of our mutual communal interactions. I think that
likely, our preference about non-violent crime enforcement comes from
the things that we do, or leave undone, in our daily lives.
I'd like to see the police spend a
whole day ticketing people who stop past the white line at the
intersection of Broad and Wood Streets, but that's just me.
The social clubs say that the
“nit-picking” police are hurting business at the clubs and that
this is going to hurt the community as the clubs financially support
school and community events. The police say that they are not
targeting the clubs. Chief Malnofsky says that his officers don't
have time to “stake out” the Moose, VFW, and Eagles. Personally,
I would hope that he is right. One has to wonder though, how much
damage the members of the clubs are doing by posting cop warnings on
social media on Friday and Saturday nights.
It seems to me like our community is
going through some changes and maybe we all need to calm down and let
things settle for a bit before we get all “take to the streets”
and protesty. The new chief hasn't hired up a full roster yet. The
department is re-organizing and rebuilding. Be patient, give it
time, things will fall into place with a new normal before too long.
In the meantime, I am going to go
scrape the snow off my headlights and tail lights and make a quick
turn signal and brake light check before I go over town. Maybe next
time I'm at the bar, I will leave one beer sooner than usual. And,
maybe I'll stop posting cop warnings on my Facebook page telling
folks not to come to town. Maybe I will be a little more cautious
driving through town. Maybe I can do some little things to help make
the situation better.
By the way, the New Bethlehem Police
are having a “meet and greet” Saturday, February 2, 1 PM at the
Community Center. It will be interesting to see how many “concerned”
residents will turn out.
Meanwhile, I'd still like to see more
enforcement at the Broad & Wood Streets intersection.
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