Lehigh County Commissioner Nate Brown said, “It is a waste of time,” for Lehigh County to approve a resolution proposing Lehigh County police agencies adopt the “8cantwait” series of police polices put forward by Commission Chair Amy Zanelli July 22.

The 8cantwait campaign is designed to bring immediate change to police departments, according to the 8cantwait.org website.

The eight policies include: ban chokeholds and strangleholds, require de-escalation, require warning before shooting, require police to exhaust all alternatives before shooting, duty to intervene, ban shooting at moving vehicles, require use of force continuum and require comprehensive reporting.

“We don’t have any authority to do anything with these municipalities [that have police departments],” Brown said.

The issue came up during the courts and corrections committee meeting before the regular meeting of the board of commissioners. The resolution was for information and discussion only and was not on the agenda for the regular meeting.

The resolution is based on the idea that adoption of the policies set forth will tend to reduce police violence. The idea has grown into a national debate since the Black Lives Matter movement gained traction after the death of Floyd George after being in police custody in Minnesota.

Commissioner Zakiya Smalls, who offered to co-sponsor the 8cantwait resolution, said she is in full support of the proposed resolution.

“That [the 8cantwait] statement can really derail our relationship with law enforcement,” Brown said.

“Our (Lehigh County) sheriff’s department is working on accreditation,” Brown said. He said when accredited the department gets audited. Brown recommended the commissioners discuss the meaning of accreditation with [Lehigh County] Sheriff [Joseph N.] Hanna and the county’s “top cop,” District Attorney James Martin.

Brown said the 8cantwait initiative is over 30 years old. “It’s nothing new; nothing different. These are just talking points. We have no clout in this. I think it is about appeasing the media, you know, getting some publicity out of this.”

After praising the local police departments, Brown said, “We need to look at the facts, not emotion. Instead of fostering cooperation, it’s going to foster resentment.”

Commissioner Marc Grammes said he doesn’t believe the commissioners should be telling the sheriff’s department what to do. “We’re a very passionate group, but we have to recognize our limitations. And our limitations in relation to the sheriff’s department is the funding aspect of it.”

Commissioner David Harrington described the proposal as a “nonbinding resolution.” He called it an opportunity to work with the sheriff’s department. “Perhaps we can make it a “flagship” for other municipalities to follow.”

“We are treading into an area where we as commissioners should not be going,” Commissioner Dr. Percy Dougherty said. Dougherty also said he supports the idea in “principle,” but would vote against if it comes to a vote. He called it “window dressing” that would not have “any impact.”

Commissioner Bob Elbich said he agreed with Brown, Dougherty and Grammes. He said police policy is in the hands of the voters who have police departments in their communities.

Commissioner Dan Hartzell said he supports the principle, but thought the wording of the document was not nuanced enough to meet real world exigencies.

Smalls said she supports the proposed resolution. “We are in uncharted times and territory with COVID, people being out of work and what’s going on in our communities and our relationship with our police departments. I think this is a way of saying this is a way we can support our police departments. We’re just putting on the record that we support these policies. I don’t agree with one of my fellow commissioners that this is ‘monkeying around’ and I don’t think it’s about ‘publicity.’”

“The [Lehigh County] Sheriff (Joseph N. Hanna) does happen to support the 8cantwait principles,” Zanelli said. She said other commissioners support it in principle and that is all the proposed resolution asks for.

Resident Robert Hoffman called in to make his point “causality is difficult to prove” and “when studied, there are no disparities in policing by race.”

Harrington pointed out the study on which Hoffman was basing his opinion had been retracted in July, but he didn’t know what the reason for the retraction was.

“The last thing we need to do at this moment to discourage our great police force,” Hoffman said.

He called such a resolution “misguided” and “an insult to our intelligence.” Hoffman said he represented 5,000 members who represent more than 1 percent of the commissioners’ constituents. He concluded with the assurance to the commissioners if the resolution is “brought forward, it will be memorialized and it’s going to be back here next year when you are up for reelection.”

Lehigh County Administration Director Ed Hozza suggested the proposed resolution be sent as a courtesy to the heads of all municipalities in the county that have police departments before action is taken by the commissioners.