EASTON, Pa. — By the time gunfire subsided in the parking lot of the Target store in Lower Nazareth Township in August 2021, two people had been wounded, one fatally.
Colonial Regional Police Department — 25 officers who patrol Lower Nazareth and Hanover townships — responded, their numbers buoyed by officers from nearby departments answering a call for mutual aid.
“On that particular day, I responded to the scene,” Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck said Thursday. “And I actually saw the need for some experience.”
- Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck announced creation of a new Major Crimes Task Force
- The task force will pool the expertise of 45 senior law enforcement officers from the county, six municipal police departments and state police
- The task force will work on complex crimes such as homicides or gun violence
Once the scene was secure, mutual aid officers returned to their home departments. State and Palmer Township police aided with the initial investigation, Colonial Regional Police Chief James DePalma said, “then, as time went on, obviously, they went back to their own jurisdictions.”
That was the sort of big crime and small police department DePalma thinks the county’s new Major Crimes Task Force could assist with.
Offering experience
The task force, which Houck announced Thursday, pools the collective expertise of 45 senior law enforcement officers from the county, six municipal police departments and state police for especially resource-intensive or complex crimes, such as homicides or gun violence.
Members’ areas of expertise range from advanced cell phone surveillance and crime scene forensics to interrogations and firearms.
“They're experienced as detectives, lieutenants and sergeants,” Houck said at a news conference Thursday.
“You're talking about the brightest and the best that we have here in Northampton County, that will now be at the ready if and when a complex crime occurs.”
“You're talking about the brightest and the best that we have here in Northampton County, that will now be at the ready if and when a complex crime occurs.”Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck
Members would come from Colonial Regional, Bethlehem Township, city of Bethlehem, city of Easton, Forks Township and Palmer Township police.
Members work full-time for their respective departments until the district attorney decides to activate the task force, based on “the complexity of the incident or incidents, the experience level of the primary police department involved in the investigation, whether the crime presents a continued threat to the community, the complexity of the crime and other factors,” Houck said.
Lending support
Once the task force is activated, members’ home departments essentially lend them to the district attorney’s office, where they can either support municipal police in their investigation, or take the lead themselves.
The number of people brought online will depend on the incident, and can vary as an investigation develops.
Members working on the force have the power to investigate crimes outside of their primary jurisdiction, which Houck said is particularly useful in cases that cross jurisdictional lines.
In doing so, officials hope to share the advanced surveillance and forensic techniques of police in the county’s larger cities with smaller jurisdictions that might not otherwise have them.
While six municipal police departments have lent their officers, any in the county can request its help, Houck said.
Houck said he decided to create the task force to make sure the county is prepared.
“You pick up the news today and we see all these horrendous things that are going around nationwide,” Houck said.
“It makes you uncomfortable, and you think, ‘OK, are we going to be ready for something like this, or not?’ And I'm now assured that we will be.”
