ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The pending deal for Allentown Parking Authority to buy the city’s secondary police station remains on hold.
Allentown City Council last week voted 5-2 to table the measure for two weeks after police union President Dave Benner asked for more time to speak to officers about the sale and a move to a temporary station.
Union officers voted last week about that move and “no one wanted to leave,” Benner said.
City and police officials are eyeing a property on North Ninth Street to convert into a temporary police station. But Benner said officers have numerous concerns about the security of the building.
“My concerns, I don’t know if they can be fixed, because there’s … a lot of safety issues that were brought to me,” Benner said.
“Sometimes people have difficulty with change; I think as a profession, law enforcement has difficulty with change."Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca
Among those concerns are the building’s large glass windows that would have to be upgraded and the distance to the parking lot.
“How much time is it going to take for us to run all the way down there to find a patrol car, get in it and go help someone?” Benner said.
Chief Charles Roca on Wednesday said he understands officers’ concerns but again made the case for his department to move out of the 10th Street station, which officials have called “very antiquated.”
The city spends a lot of money maintaining and making repairs at the station, where the HVAC system often fails, officers get hurt on stairs and sewage falls on officers’ personal vehicles, Roca told council.
“Sometimes people have difficulty with change; I think as a profession, law enforcement has difficulty with change,” Roca said.
For example, he noted officers’ initial reluctance to use body cameras.
Property to be part of package deal
The parking authority is lined up to buy the Allentown Police Department’s station at Tenth and Hamilton streets. It plans to bundle that property with its own adjacent lot to sell to a developer.
Allentown paid about $750,000 for the property, but the parking authority has agreed to give the city the first $1.5 million from any sale.
The two entities would equally share any proceeds above that.
City Council unanimously voted in April to table the measure after Benner urged members to wait until a “proper transition” plan is in place for officers.
“We will never, ever, ever put our officers in a position where they are not secure and where they don’t feel safe.”Mayor Matt Tuerk
He said this spring that he doesn’t think a temporary location will meet the requirements of the union’s collective bargaining agreement with the city. Benner also threatened legal action in April.
Allentown is working to expand the police station next to City Hall as part of the department’s push to bring all officers “under one roof,” Roca said last week.
City council has earmarked $9 million in federal coronavirus pandemic-relief money for the project, which calls for substantial upgrades at the almost-29,000-square-foot police headquarters and a 22,500-square-foot facility to be built between that and Hamilton Street.
The project is expected to cost $37 million.
Mayor Matt Tuerk last week again tried to assure Benner and council members that the city would not force out officers before a temporary location is ready.
“Ensuring the safety and security of all our employees, and especially our police officers, is like our highest responsibility as an employer,” Tuerk said.
“We will never, ever, ever put our officers in a position where they are not secure and where they don’t feel safe.”
City officials will work with Benner and the police union to make sure any temporary station “meets their standards,” Tuerk said.
“We can’t gamble with their safety and security," he said.
