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.