In a sparsely-attended remote council meeting June 16, Ed Gallagher, a retired Lehigh University English professor and author of the blog “Bethlehem Gadfly,” used his now-standard Bethlehem Moment historic recounting to describe the 1997 Southside drug bust conducted by Bethlehem police, which left John Hirko Jr. dead with 11 bullets in his back from a police “submachine gun.” The suspected drug dealer’s home was also burned as result of pyrotechnic ordnance or flash-bang grenade used by the police.

In a federal civil suit charging the police with violating Hirko’s and his fiancée’s civil rights, the city agreed to pay a $7.89 million fine, which was finally paid off in 2015.

“The point of this Bethlehem Moment is its relevance to our own cultural moment,” concluded Gallagher. “Here is an example from Bethlehem’s past when lack of oversight of the Bethlehem Police Department caused big trouble. We recognize that the accreditation that department now enjoys in large part is because of this event. We should not lose sight of the need for continual oversight of the Police Department and continued improvement of department policies, training and community involvement.”

Maggie Urban-Waala called into the meeting promoting what she called the “8 to Abolition” proposal instead of the “8 Can’t Wait” proposal. She was referring to a letter sent to the administration and the Bethlehem Police Department by ouncil members William Reynolds and Grace Crampsie Smith dated June 9, which contained a list of eight policies regarding use of force by police with a request that Police Chief Marc Diluzio answer questions like, “How many of these eight directives are currently included in our use of force guidelines? What percentage of the training time is spent on de-escalation?”

A full list of the questions appears as a sidebar to this article.

A second point to the letter from the council members to the Police chief concerned support of a proposed “community engagement Initiative.”

The topic was introduced by the clerk as a communication which will appear for action on a future City Council agenda.

Urban-Waala recommended Bethlehem support the “8 to abolition” proposal which, according to her, would create “a citywide Community Engagement Initiative with our police department.”

Urban-Waals expanded her comments in a subsequent email to the Press.

“It would include a broad coalition consisting of residents, police officers, representatives from our schools, social justice organizations, and more,” said Urban-Waals.

“The initiative would bring awareness and a louder voice to issues of injustice in our city. It could also help to design and promote events and actions designed to build trust between our citizens and the police department. It could also be a place for people to talk, organize, and, most importantly, listen.

“The reality is we don’t know exactly what the coalition would want to focus on. It is designed to be a group with an organic and flexible focus determined by our community. We understand that we are currently successfully carrying out individual events that fulfill the philosophy of engaging citizens with our Police Department in non-enforcement activities. It is clear, however, that we need to do more. Bethlehem needs to include more officers, more organizations, more citizens, and have more discussion on issues relating to race, justice, and trust.”

Mayor Robert Donchez responded to the memo by by saying, “The Hirko case was a turning point in the Bethlehem Police Department. It made us and the [police department] re-evaluate itself.” He said many of the recommendations stemming from the case have been implemented to include getting a state and national accreditation.

“But we always have to strive to get better and have self-reflection,” said Donchez.

He said a detailed response to the Reynolds and Crampsie Smith memo has been posted on the city’s website.

The joint statement by Mayor Donchez and Chief Diluzio says in part, “Categorically, the department supports the guidelines presented in the 8 can’t wait initiative. We support the guidelines because many are already been incorporated in the department directives. As for others [initiatives], we view this discussion as an opportunity to be responsive to public concern by clarifying and enhancing existing directives.”

The Bethlehem Police Department, according to the city website, “is ranked the 8th largest police department in the state of Pennsylvania. [It] employs 154 sworn Officers and 15 civilian employees. [It] has dual accreditation. It is an accredited law enforcement agency at the national level (CALEA) and at the state level (PLEAC). It is one of only 5 percent of police departments nationally with dual accreditation.”

In other business, Anna Affleck Smith was appointed to the Bethlehem Human Relations Commission and also to the Blighted Property Review Committee. Council also approved Anthony M. Silvoy’s appointment to the Historic Conservation Commission, South Bethlehem and Mount Airy. Council also approved Thomas H. Barker’s appointment to the Planning Commission.