Lehigh Valley, PA – The Lehigh Valley Justice Institute (“LVJI”) today called upon local governments to explore what they can do to reform police practices as we approach the first anniversary of the police murder of George Floyd.

“Nationally, the greatest tribute which can be paid to George Floyd, and all other persons of color who have died as a result of unlawful acts of police, is passage ofH.R. 1280, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. We need not wait, however, for Congress to act. There are steps to take locally to ensure justice in policing.” LVJI Executive Director Joseph Welsh declared.

LVJI points to the enactment of a local ban on no-knock warrants just this past week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Pittsburg residents, by 81% of the vote, approved a ban on no-knock warrants.”  Welsh noted.  No-knock warrants involve a police procedure where police officers break into a home without announcing

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward Justice.”

– Rev. Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr.

that they are law enforcement officers.  It is such a procedure which led to the death of Brianna Taylor last year in Louisville, Kentucky.

LVJI notes that steps are being taken locally to improve policing. Northampton County recently contracted for anti-bias training for all police departments in the county; Bethlehem, under the leadership of new Chief Michelle Kott, has restructured the department with an eye toward true community policing; and Allentown, along with Lehigh County officials, have been working toward a 911 mental health co-responder model. “There are some positive steps being taken locally, and we at LVJI have been providing our resources to support local officials as they make positive strides.” Welsh said.

The mental health co-responder model 1s something of immediate importance to the Lehigh Valley. “In just the past few months, we have seen the fatal results of police interaction with mentally challenged individuals from one end of the valley to the other,” the Executive Director observed, referring to the deaths of an as of yet unidentified man in Williams Township this past weekend, the February 19, 2021 death of Ryan Shirey in Catasaqua, and the December 30, 2020 death of Christian Hall in Monroe County.

Creation of a 911 co-response model is a priority for the Institute. Recently, LVJI hosted a meeting for more than twenty City of Allentown and Lehigh County Officials to present alternative co-responder models. Representatives of the Crises Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (“CAHOOTS”) program which originated in Eugene, Oregon, and Chief Frederick Harran of the Bensalem Police Department made detailed presentations to the local officials.

While a pure CAHOOTS model utilizes mental health professionals as first responders, the Bensalem model has such professionals respond at the same time as police, with police making initial contract. “Regardless of the model employed, the key factor of a true co-responder model is that the trained mental health professionals are on the scene at the time that the incident is unfolding. Anything which provides less than this is not a true co-responder model,” Welsh explained.

The Lehigh Valley Justice Institute was formed last year to address criminal justice issues specifically in the Lehigh Valley, from an academic perspective. The Institute is engaged in a multi-year deep study of the local criminal justice systems, as well as immediate work through various issue committees, such as policing, bail and re-entry programs.

 
Information provided to TVL by:

Lehigh Valley Justice Institute
https://www.lvji.org/

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