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The City of Bethlehem Police Department adopted the philosophy of community policing in the early 1990's. As a part of this initiative, some officers began working out of substations in one of our public housing developments. This substation in the Marvine-Pembroke Development was staffed by two full time officers. They faced an uphill battle in trying to reach out to members of that community who were not trusting of the police. Over the next few years, we opened police substations on Broadway and in the 700 block of East Fourth Street, both on the city's south side. These substations were also staffed by two full-time officers each who were funded through Community Development Block Grants. Initially, these officers walked a beat and spent time in their respective neighborhoods in an effort to reach out to the community. Despite much criticism within the department and from some members of the public, it worked. Slowly, citizens began to recognize that the police were able to address their crime problems and concerns. Leaders of the community emerged and began to attend Block Watch Meetings. The police and the citizens began to see each other as real people who were both interested in the same goal: SAFER NEIGHBORHOODS We, as a community, owe a great deal to these original officers who worked tirelessly toward a goal with unproven tactics. Detective Sergeant Jeff Herzog Sergeant Dave Brown (Retired) Sergeant Hank Jonkman (Retired) Sergeant Don Sabo (Retired) Sergeant Joe Keglovitz (Retired) In 1993 and 1994, officers lobbied for a better tool to accomplish their assignment:
"POLICE ON BIKES" Officer Jeff Herzog was stationed at the South West substation, near the Five Points. Wearing a regular police uniform and using a bicycle from the property room, he began to patrol his beat. In today's age of specialized equipment and training his efforts may seem crude, but this paved the way for one of the premier police bike units in the country. Through the efforts and contributions from the community, uniforms and police bikes were purchased and several officers were equipped with this new crime fighting/community outreach tool. Our initial officers were certified by Officers Don Erb and George Quickle from Lancaster PD. Soon, Officers Dave Strawn and Jeff Mouer were partnered at the South West substation, while Officers Dave Kravatz and Scott Parry patrolled the South East neighborhoods. They were all equipped with Cannondale police bikes and our distinctive black uniforms from BRATWEAR. Within a short period of time, the bike unit began to grow and prove itself as a useful tool in the fight against crime, as well as a great way to get in touch with our community. Despite some naysayers the bike police officers showed their worth to everyone. The unit began to grow in size and officers were added to the Center City substation, which was originally located in the Farr Building at Broad and New Streets. A substation opened on the West Side and housed a bike officer and our Crime Prevention Officer Don Sabo. The Bethlehem Housing Authority also added another officer to patrol both the Lynfield and Parkridge Housing developments. Soon, Officer Bill Dosedlo (BUB), became a certified IPMBA instructor so that we could train our own officers, as well as officers from surrounding communities. Bethlehem was developing a reputation as a forerunner in Community Policing and police bike patrols. Officers continued to attend the annual Police On Bikes Conference and our knowledge and training levels continued to increase. This allowed our officers to provide better service to the community in the form of a well trained and educated bike police force. We began to expand our involvement in teaching members of the community the principles of safe cycling. This included conducting numerous events each year for both kids and adults. We worked with the Bethlehem School District to provide bicycle education and training to anyone interested. The number of bike officers continued to grow and we had more officers certified through the years. Officer Jason Schiffer was next to become certified, soon to be accompanied by Officer Bill Kissner. As some of our ranks were promoted or transferred to other assignments, we had more openings. Officer Jon Pesesko was then certified as an IPMBA instructor and along with Lieutenant Jason Schiffer, they comprise our current instructor cadre. Training has come a long way since our beginnings. Once, we were not permitted to take a "training ride", and now we have our own training cones and obstacles built that can be transported by our trailer to any training location. The trailer was provided by the generous donation from Hector Nemes of the Bethlehem Parking Authority. This allows us to travel to bike demonstrations with all of our equipment and bikes. We have also used the trailer to travel to the IPMBA Conferences in Dayton, Ohio in 2006 and in Indianapolis, IN in 2008.
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