Bethlehem councilmember discusses city’s use-of-force policy

Bethlehem councilmember discusses city’s use-of-force policy

By Ben Stemrich

June 25, 2020

As protests against police brutality and racism continue around the country, a coalition of Lehigh Valley activists are asking to see local police departments use of force policy. So far, Bethlehem is the only Lehigh Valley city to have released its handbook. WLVR’s Ben Stemrich has more.

Bethlehem recently released its use of force policy to the public and it’s completely unredacted. WLVR spoke with council member Bill Reynolds about the release of the policy.

“It was something that a lot of citizens have reached out to us about, for transparency and equity reasons they thought it was a good idea to release it and I was happy that the mayor did,” said Reynolds.

Council members hope to add to the policy to reflect the eight that can’t wait rules… but how much will change is unknown at this point.

“I’m not certain how much it will change, a lot of our requests are in there. We’re going to have a city council meeting in a couple weeks and we’re going to ask more questions about what is in there and maybe why is it in there and things like that.”

The next city council meeting is set for July 7^th at 7 p.m.