Whitehall Township Police Department’s K-9, Max, was summoned recently by United States Secret Service for a mission - not a covert or top-secret operation, but one at Lehigh Valley International Airport that involved ensuring the safety of some special passengers aboard an airplane.

The township board of commissioners was informed at the Oct. 10 meeting by Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. that Max and his handler, Officer Jeff Apgar, were requested by Secret Service to do a routine inspection of an airplane in which one of the national election candidates was a passenger.

Everything was found to be normal, without incident, as Max did his job.

The K-9 was busy in September and continues to be this month, assisting patrol officers with checks of buildings and alarm calls.

“The K-9 did one demonstration at Lowe’s for a public safety expo for our EMA (Emergency Management Team),” Hozza said.

In the report, township police assisted Catasauqua police earlier on a report of a man barricading himself in an apartment with a samurai sword.

Four details were conducted by the police weight team, at which nine commercial truck operators were given citations and one warning notice for violations. One truck operator was contacted during patrol and issued a nontraffic citation.

With the heavy presence of tri-axle trucks on township roads - many going to a quarry site - the township wants to ensure the safety of the riding motorists and public. A large number of such trucks are bringing regulated clean fill to the quarry in the Stiles/North Coplay area.

In September, police issued 111 traffic citations, 53 parking tickets and six DUI arrests; processed 54 criminal arrests; investigated 25 reportable crashes and 88 nonreportable crashes; and wrote 1,073 initial reports and 44 written warnings.