Allentown Police Chief Keith Morris and Mayor Ed Pawlowski today announced the formation of a committee to review the civil service rules for hiring. The process will engage community stakeholders for input in the recruitment process and will examine barriers to effective minority recruitment in an attempt to improve minority recruitment efforts.
The committee will consist of four community members and two police officers. The members are as follows:
Pastor Ben Hailey – Union Baptist Church, Allentown
Pastor Emmanuel Suarez – HOPE Church, Allentown
Mr. Tyrone Russell – Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley
Ms. Gail Hoover – realtor and former Allentown City Council member
Asst. Chief Gail Struss – Allentown Police Department
Officer Daniel Miller – Allentown Police Department
“Establishing a police department that mirrors our diverse community is been a priority for me, as it leads to a greater sense of trust and respect from the community,” said Chief Morris. “Our goal is to increase the diversity of our department across the broad spectrum of race, ethnicity, gender, age and sexual orientation.”
“Allentown is a very diverse city and I am very pleased that we have many opportunities to celebrate that diversity,” said Pawlowski. “I am proud to have appointed the city’s first minority police chief, assistant chief and captains. We can do a better job of increasing the diversity in the department and the establishment of this committee will help us get there.”
“I personally think this initiative is a major step in strengthening relationships between law enforcement and community members,” said Tyrone Russell of the CACLV. “Reaching out to different community agents and inviting them to participate in purpose driven and action oriented conversations regarding our police force is both progressive and a reflection of extremely brave and aware leadership.”
The Allentown Police Department has already started recruiting for its next hiring phase which will commence in 2018. The committee’s first meeting will be scheduled in the near future.
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