Allentown Police & Crime

This post is about the Allentown Police Department and crime in the city. This is a general post of the police department and crime. I will be making future posts going more in depth on certain issues.

In my personal opinion we have a police force with alot of dedicated officers. However there are some changes I personally would like to see with the police department. I feel they need to utilize community policing to the fullest. We need officers on the streets on foot interacting with residents and getting to know neighborhoods where the most crime happens. I understand that this is going on now but just hope it continues and we see more of it.

I am not sure if there is an official gang unit or not but if there isn't then I think we need one. The police department needs to have officers dedicated to gang prevention and gang related crimes. I am looking at the city website and don't see a gang unit listed under their divisions and units so I am not sure if there is one.

One thing I have always said the city needs to do is utilize social media to their advantage. The police department does now have a facebook page which I am glad to see but just hope they continue to utilize it to get information on unsolved crimes. For anyone interested the facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/allentownpolice  

I would like to see more police operations throughout the city as they did in the past where they would hit the streets hard with alot of officers and raid known drug houses. They did this a few years ago and coordinating with the state police. They used their helicopter and were on the look out for crimes in progress. I would like to see more operations such as this take place and would like to see the vice unit do more raids. Send the message to these criminals that we will not tolerate the criminal activity.

I think the youth division of the police department needs to be more proactive and go to the schools in the city. Interact with the children and prevent them from getting into a gang or committing a crime later on down the road.

I am hopeful with the new police chief we have and hope he puts his expertise to use. I have met him and he is a nice guy who seems to care about the police department. He has promised more community policing so I hope to see that soon.

Also residents you need to get involved. Join a community watch group in your area and report suspicious activity.

Housing & Business Decline

My first post is about the housing and business decline in the city. Allentown was once a booming thriving city that had well known successful businesses and historic well kept housing. Throughout the years the housing and business development has seen a decline. This is reflected with current property values throughout the city. We all can remember Hess store that was located at 9th and Hamilton. It was sad to see such a great store go.

In the 1980s the city allowed for too many conversions of single family homes into multi-unit apartment buildings creating a decline in home ownership which also affected property values. In my personal opinion this is when the downfall of the housing stock started. The city thought that more rentals would bring more people which would bring more tax dollars being spent however the opposite happened. It did bring more people but it also allowed for too many rentals throughout the city. Big mistake of that city administration.

Because of all the rentals the city had to start a rental inspection program. This program was working and was making progress but the program is not being utilized correctly today. We have rentals in this city going 10+ years without being inspected. This is due to the low manpower of code enforcement. Also I feel code enforcement is being directed wrongly by the city administration. The city has seen more blight in the recent years then it ever had. It is a known fact that urban blight contributes to more crime and discourages business development. I feel the city needs to get a handle on the current blight issue if they want to save Allentown.

We all are fully aware of the hockey arena and office/apartments being built downtown currently but it will not save the city. The city must improve the housing stock throughout center city and the rest of the city that has pockets of blight. If we do not handle the blight issue correctly then Allentown will continue to see a decline in it's housing stock.

So what do we do now? I think the city needs to be strict with the rental program we have. Show the slumlords and absentee landlords that we will not tolerate their neglect of our housing stock. We need to hire more code enforcement inspectors since the city is currently 52% rental which is about 27,000 rental units in the city. The city needs to enforce the city ordinances that we have instead of ignoring them. The city needs to hold neglecting property owners accountable for their actions as well as renters who trash the city. One thing myself and the organization I am president of is looking into is creating a quality of life unit within the police department to address quality of life issues such as illegal dumping, littering, graffiti, etc. Right now I personally feel the sweep department within recycling is not effective enough.

I don't think people realize that the housing and business decline affect the city in many ways. It affects property values, the tax base, crime element, our school system, etc.