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Allentown leaders press staffing needs as council weighs community policing and in‑house CIS positions
Summary
Police and councilmembers discussed community policing, in‑house Crisis Intervention Specialists (CIS), and recruitment amid looming retirements; police leaders said staffing and recruitment initiatives will shape budget requests.
Councilmember Moda pressed police leaders to restore or expand community policing, saying officers embedded in neighborhoods help build trust and reduce fear. “I remember when I was growing up on Second Street, we had a police officer that everyone knew ... we trusted him,” Moda said.
Assistant Chief Grama said the department has not abandoned community policing and described existing community outreach units, school resource officers, the PAL program and a youth mentor academy. He said the department is studying an expanded core response model that would use CIS workers alongside officers and that a state grant is funding an evaluation of that approach conducted with contracted CIS workers.
On staffing, Grama told…
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