Police brutality and racism have been a hot topic in America for the last several weeks, and the June 15 Hellertown Borough Council virtual meeting was no exception, as Mayor David Heintzelman, Council President Thomas J. Reiger and others addressed concerns from community members in separate statements.

Early in the meeting, Reiger read a question from an anonymous resident, “asking the Mayor (Heintzelman) and Chief of Police (Robert Shupp III) to share what specific steps Hellertown police have taken to ensure that none of our officers use excessive force.”

Chief Shupp was on the meeting and replied, noting that officers receive training annually on defensive tactics and that the department takes several steps to ensure that they do not hire anybody whose job performance might be informed by racism or other forms of bigotry. He described the “thorough four-week background check” that prospective borough officers endure, in which the department talks to previous employers and neighbors regarding the applicant, as well as the conduction of a psychological exam.

Borough resident Frank Pazzaglia also addressed the board, first praising Hellertown officials for robustly sharing helpful information and bringing the community together amid the Covid-related struggles.

“We have much to be proud of… and I’d like to say thank you for all of that,” he said. However, he then criticized Hellertown officials for being silent on the murder of George Floyd and the topic of systemic racism and referenced the protest that occurred Saturday, June 13, at Borough Hall, saying, “In matters of public safety, messaging and leadership are really important. So far, other than what I heard tonight, the message from Hellertown, the absence of elected officials during Saturday’s peaceful demonstration, and the lack of anything on Facebook, Twitter or the borough’s website is one of complete and eerie silence.”

Pazzaglia closed by asking officials to “look into your hearts and ask, how you would like your message of silence to be interpreted?”

Self-identified Democrat Bill Broun, an organizer of a recent Black Lives Matter event, joined to say ‘thank you’ to the borough. He mentioned Chief Shupp and Reiger specifically, saying they were both “incredibly helpful, giving us a safe and meaningful space to exercise our First Amendment rights.”

Broun also praised the Hellertown Police Department, saying “Every officer that I met was friendly and extremely professional.” He estimated that there were about 250-300 people at the demonstration and echoed Pazzaglia’s statement.

“There’s a hunger for leaders to speak up right now,” he said, adding, “I do think there’s a problem with racism in the community… we witnessed it directly over the weekend,” referring to folks passing by Borough Hall who heckled and jeered the protesters.

Council President Reiger added his own thoughts, saying, “I truly believe that our community is special… here is no room in this community for hate.” He expressed his emotions regarding his uncertainty of how to combat racism and other forms of hate and praised Broun and Larry O’Donnell for leading the event, calling it “a model for protests around the country.”

Heintzelman read a prepared statement, bemoaning the state of the country at the moment, saying, “never did I sense a greater need for harmony and social justice than I do now.”

He added, “We are first Americans, who should care about each other” no matter what one’s racial identity or political persuasion is. “In 2020, as a people, we have collectively been through the wringer emotionally for many reasons,” he continued, asserting that everybody is “entitled to dignity and respect, and to be treated equally under the law.”

He closed by stating emphatically, “Hate has no place in this borough.”

In other news at the meeting, Borough Manager Cathy Hartranft said that “everything has gone well” with reopening borough parks, despite what she characterized as a “one-day litter problem” at Water Street Park, particularly “at the (basketball and tennis) courts” that she said the police are keeping an eye on. Police Chief Shupp added “everybody just needed a friendly reminder of where the garbage cans were located.”