Yesterday was another horribly sad day for Allentown. Another child lost to gun violence.
Our police chief immediately reacted in the same - oh so predictable - manner, probably taught to him by his mentor and ruler, Matt Tuerk. Instead of action we got a social media post. Absolutely zero comment from the mayor of course. Frank Kane’s phone is ringing for comment but he lost the phone again.
You can read the Chief’s comment here in full:
“When a homicide happens, it impacts not only the victim but the community itself. My message continues to be put the guns down and resolve potential disputes in a civil manner by communicating. This type of violence impacts many neighborhoods across our nation.
Our patrol and investigative teams are hard at work in conducting the investigation and we will put out informational updates as we can. Now it is even more vital for people to get involved and uplift our community. No one deserves this outcome.
Our community is angry and rightfully so, but I want to say that the person pulling the trigger is where we need to focus our efforts. My question to you is, are you going to sit back and call Allentown a cesspool or are you going to do something about it and get involved?”
What an empty message to deliver after yet another act of violence in our city. Instead of leadership and a plan, we get a lecture.
I’m tired of hearing elected officials calling for people to “put the guns down”. It’s a very tired and overused slogan. Does Roca or the mayor really think that the thugs committing these violent acts are looking for conflict‑resolution advice from a Facebook post?
And the part to “get involved and uplift our community”?
Get involved how, exactly?
With what resources?
What programs?
What support?
What infrastructure?
What investment?
If you’re going to ask residents to step up, you need to tell them what you’re stepping up with. You are paid very handsomely to figure it out…so do something.
• Stop focusing on the new police station
• Stop pushing for a DROP
• Stop the loser social media presence, leave that to Mayor PeeWee
• Start doing the job you are hired to do and put a plan in action.
Tell me what any of these things are going to do to reduce crime and fun violence? And yet all of these bullet points combined will cost the city $100 million between capital and staff wages combined.
When you narrow the entire issue down to one individual, you never have to talk about policy failures, prevention failures, or the city leaderships own role in creating the conditions where violence thrives. It’s actually insulting to the community and a cheap way to deflect to individuals so that you never have to answer to the problem.
Residents aren’t angry because they’re lazy or don’t care. We are angry because we are tired of being told to “get involved” and city leadership refuses to get real and do something. Instead we have the Police Chief posting a lecture on Facebook and Councilperson Gerlach saying she is meeting with the Violence Prevention Coordinator. Two reactive approaches. Although Cece makes me continue to question why we pay high wages to city workers for questionable outputs. What exactly is the job of the Violence Prevention office and what are Those metrics for success? Because I’d say that office is failing.
Let us not forget that our mayor is in a California with his secretary again. Allentown needs a present leader, not a globe trotting twink.
I don’t know about the rest of Allentown but I am not even that interested in his words anymore. They mean nothing.
This man has stopped caring and it’s clear he’s abandoned his entire job. From someone who loooooooves strategic plans so much… where is the strategic plan for reducing gun violence? Oh wait maybe the violence prevention office can spit one out with ChatGPT and call it day.
Chief Roca and Mayor Tuerk, one piece of advice. If you want the community to step up, start by doing the same.
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42 comments:
"Globe trotting Twink" Abe this is a disgusting homophobic slur, are you so insecure about your own homosexuality that you use nasty ad hominems against Hermano Tuérk¿ When you visited the green door last. Friday you had no Animus against twinks quite the opposite, you took great care of at least 4 by my count
How is globe trotting twink possibly homophobic? You sound stupid. Are your meds up to date and at the right dose?
You seem to be quite obsessed with protecting your Hermano Tuerk. Sounds to me like you’re the one hiding from your own reality.
The white man invented guns, he profited massively from their sale, he colonized brown bodies at the end of their barrel and caused mass casualties via its wanton use. Now whitey wants to bray about how the brown folks are misusing these white made abominations and claim it's the fault of our first LatinX mayor a laughable perversion of the facts!
Dont make this tragic event about race. Guns kill people, people kill people, leaders make promises and never come thru, its the same ole shit from being trying to play victim when they are not.
It would be nice to see the city and police chief do something proactive. I agree everything is reactive. This was tragic. No one should die at such a young age.
Associating Matt Tuerk with the LGBTQ community is an insult. We don’t want him anymore than the LatinX community does.
Gun violence happens here because so much is tolerated here by our elected officials. Believe it or not, even places in NY and NJ have higher standards.
But Allentown City Hall lets it all go, and then wonders why kids are getting shot on our streets.
It’s because they’re letting the criminal element have their way with dirt bikes, ATV’s, noise, illegal auto repair shops in neighborhoods, etc. and expect those breaking those “little laws” to then draw the line on what’s a step too far.
It’s not rocket science but apparently common sense isn’t one of the classes at the many conferences our Mayor attends.
Last time I checked, being Mayor was a full time job. It’s not just that he isn’t doing anything right. It’s that he’s doing a hundred “little things” wrong. That adds up, and not in a good way.
Here’s a suggestion: Police the living shit out of the city and start writing people up and making arrests for all laws on the books. The criminal element will get the hint and move on to greener pastures.
Unfortunately, right now Allentown is the “greener pasture” for criminals because the city doesn’t do anything about anything.
Or continue to make empty complaints about “gun violence” and watch the bodies pile up. Hell, the kids aren’t even out of school yet and this is happening. Get ready for a long summer.
If the nattering nabobs who poo pooed Dr. Batts has been more supportive in deeds and finances we wouldn't be here. Sadly when a high achieving black man who happens to be a returning citizen has revolutionary ideas about how to reduce violence he is savaged by the lily White flighters all the way out in Whitehall.
Wheres that useless Promise neighborhoodz at ? They always come out after the shooting with the Orange stop gun violence shirts
Take the money going to things like Promise Neighborhoods and the Violence Prevention Office and put it towards more police on the street.
Every neighborhood should get an equal, high level of policing in the city. There’s no reason for ANY intermediaries between residents and the police. All they are doing is keeping the police from building relationships in the neighborhoods they patrol.
If there a problem on the West End, residents there call the police, the police get dispatched, and the problem gets resolved. There is no reason that downtown residents should have to go through an intermediary to get the same service as the wealthier residents of the city.
Publicize anonymous tip lines for residents to call directly to the police and cut out the middlemen. Treat every complaint with importance. There should be NO acceptance by the city of ANY level of lawbreaking.
These assklowns mentioning the green door is a look at goggle and has been closed down for some time. As for helping the police with words only gets a target on your back because grants are paying to import there criminal agenda! Just take a good look at batts crime violence organization thugs in Orange carring out violence also.
You can completely lock-up all guns away from children and there will always be adults nearby who will pass down a gun to them. Usually members of one of several gangs operating freely within this city.
If not guns, the cowardly way of settling arguments by physically harming another person will move from using guns to some other device. Those include knives, razor blades, scissors, brass knuckles, throwing stars, small explosives thrown, acid attacks, poisoning, etc.
In Allentown and other cities we have a PARENTING problem. Too many kids having their own kids, broken families, total dependency on free government handouts rather than personal responsibility and actually working for a living.
This is the Fall of America, and Democrat/Liberal enabled wide open borders have been largely responsible for the disorder we now see in our neighborhoods. But, go ahead, just keep voting the same way you always do.
Allentown - a good place to be away from
Cut the crap , it is today’s parents of both parties who have failed. Republicans are raising just as shitty kids.
Dumb question, but why does the Mayor’s Secretary get to go to conferences? To take notes?
Because there's no accountability to the tax payers in Allentown. No other municipal government in the region sends elected officials and administrative assistants on these kind of junkets/vacations that are a waste of time and resources. You wonder why Tuerk's "progressive" Zoning Ordinance has no provisions for Data Centers, leaving the City vulnerable to unregulated proliferation of these unpopular uses? Maybe he was on too many junkets when he should have been making sure Allentown was properly protected with amended provisions. Tuerk chooses self-gratification and political advocacy over good, solid services to tax payers every single chance he gets.
Homophobic insinuates that someone is afraid of same sex relationships and the people who engage in same sex relationships. Most are not afraid of this, but they are fatigued from being force fed mandates of tolerance from those who are the least tolerant. There are way more important issues upon which to focus than someone disapproving of another's lifestyle. There are some excellent points made here about APD being restrained by the Mayor from enforcing all of the criminal behaviors listed (dirt bikes, loud music, etc) which incubates a culture of lawlessness that leads to someone taking a life over a series of disagreements. Charlie Rocca does make an excellent point in asking citizens to step up and assist the police in prosecuting people who do bad things. But ultimately the responsibility for all of this is on Mayor McPronouns and his restraint on the policing so as to not offend his voting base or be accused of targeting a demographic of people who place identity over competency. I also agree with defunding the grift of "community activism" and put that money towards policing. That doesn't mean a shiny new multi-million dollar police station but actually uniformed officers who are not restrained by a virtue signaling mayor. Throw some tickets out for double parking, arrest the crimes seen as petty and watch the major criminal activity decline. Chances are the turds committing heinous crimes are also doing the petty stuff. It worked well for NYC in the 90s.
In your dreams!!! The quality of life in the West End is quickly diminishing and there is no police presence whatsoever at any time. Zero police presence. If anything, the West End get disproportionately low police coverage. The only difference: When a gangland style, drive by, house shooting happens in the West End, City Hall and the Police cover it up from the press (i.e. 25th & Fairmout Sts.)
I am laughing at Throwing stars and acid attacks. These arent ninjas fighting. And as far as acid attacks, when have you ever heard of an adult let alone a teenager using acid attacks on someone? I cant stop laughing. You forgot ball and chain attacks, and bow and arrow.
Wait, you mean that this kid wasn't saved by the Mayor placing speed bumps throughout the city? Shocking!
You're comment comes across as sexist since you assume Michaela Boyer is a secretary when in fact, she is a professional administrator. We agree that wasting double time and double money sending 2 employees on a junket/vacation is really bad and the optics on this one are particularly troubling.
This is the way modern day politicians think. Do whatever you want until someone’s stops you. At that point, plead ignorance of the correct procedure, lie, apologize, etc. No one will ever take your infraction forward to any accountability phase or penalty. THIS is our reality!
I'm going to do the unthinkable here....I think the temporary/movable speed bumps are working really well (except for speeding motorcyclists who can avoid them). I think the seasonal, increased use of them city wide on streets with chronic speeding problems (I know...there are hundreds of them!) is warranted.
Not sexist at all, it is a realist statement. Michaela Boyer has been dead weight since the first day. She rarely shows up, does nothing all day but play with her cell phone and the strings attached to the mayor.
She is a disgraceful public servant and waste of taxpayer dollars. Her relationship with the mayor is very suspicious. He has fought for this dead weight more than the other extremely qualified staff in his office that run circles around Mickey.
I’d put those speed bumps on Hamilton Blvd. near Hamilton Family Diner. Someone is going to be killed on that stretch crossing over to/from events at Crum Stadium.
she needed free airfare to disneyland!
I see motorcycles using them as a ramp for a mini-jump. I’ve also seen pedestrians on the side of the road nearly getting hit by cars trying to swerve around part of the bump, so at least one side of the car goes through without hitting the bump.
Then of course you have the a-holes who speed up right after the bump and slam on their brakes before the next one.
It’s ridiculous to put them out, considering that most of the day there isn’t an issue at the areas that they’re placed.
It’s just another downgrade from actually having the police stop and ticket those who are speeding and driving recklessly.
What events at JBC? Aside from football Fridays in the fall the venue is barely used. Soccer and lacrosse sure as heck aren’t drawing a lot of walkers across Hamilton.
If speeding is a problem, why not have the police sit there and write some tickets. I see SWT doing it all the time.
Maybe that would also keep City Hall from raising our taxes. Again.
2:55 - The Fireworks and thousands and thousands who attend the Drum Corps International events.
That’s two events a year, and they may have even moved the fireworks from the stadium last year.
Either way, that hardly justifies bringing all traffic to a halt as people drive along the main road into your city, WHETHER THERE IS AN EVENT IN PROGRESS OR NOT!
And let’s be clear about what’s going on here. It is having ALL traffic practically stop as they drive, no matter what time of day (or night) they are traveling on the road, or what may (or more likely may not) be going on in the area.
It’s not adjusting the speed limit, it’s not ticketing speeders (the actual problem), it’s not even adding a temporary (for events only) stop light or a well-lit, signalized crosswalk that would likely solve the problem.
It is the laziest (and dumbest) of all possible solutions possible, which explains why City Hall apparently loves them.
The City of Allentown’s lackluster July 4th fireworks event is at JBC.
Speaking of which, I noticed that Comrade Tuerk and his team have not announced any plans to celebrate this great nations 250th? Here we are a month from the 250th and nothing from Allentown. Suprised? Not one bit.
He probably has already secured a plane ticket to Cuba to spend the holiday with his appropriated culture.
Probably trying out for one of the seven dwarfs in the new Live action Snow White movie. She has my vote for Dopey, Lazy, and the newest dwarf Barely (as in here).
7:29 If were looking to blame a single race for man's violent behavior shouldn't it be the Chinese who invented gun powder? Of course that would be as ridiculous as your statement. Mankind has been killing and enslaving people from the start. Most slaves were either serfs, servents, kidnapped, or those who ended up on the wrong side of a territorial dispute/war. Slavery of one sort or another was the normal state for most of mankind worldwide until relatively recently. Africans gladly sold other Africans to white Europeans has they were using people as a commodity themselves since prehistory. Sadly sadly is back on the rise in Africa and around the world. Old style selling of humans is again happening in places like libya and sex slavery exists worldwide. Apparently it's big time here in the USA. Every race is tarred with the same brush, the only real difference is our skin color, on the inside we are all as good and and evil as the other.
12:46 pm: you sound like a City Hall insider. Are you seriously alleging that there's a "secretarial" employee making $100,000 a year who has nothing to do all day who goes with Tuerk on his tax payer funded junkets/vacations??? I simply can't believe that.
Yes, I guess I am insinuating that.
Abe: Do not fret about "leadership lectures" because Tuerk and his "assistant"? can learn some good strategies on preventing shoot outs at the upcoming USCM Fall Leadership Meeting in sunny San Diego. I would think the airfare, lodging (1 room or 2?), meals and an excursion to Coronado for 2 should only cost us about $3,500 - $4,000? That's a fair price for learning some good leadership ideas.
100% confirming that Boyer hasn’t done a damn thing since starting with the city. Yet for some unexplained reason the mayor works so hard to get her more money and takes her with him to Disneyland among other trips.
If you don’t believe me, grab anyone that works in City Hall and they will have no hesitation telling you how big of a waste she really is and drain your n productivity.
Ask them to name just one accomplishment she has… don’t hold your breath.
As far as being a city hall insider? You betcha. No one in city hall or bridgeworks supports this mayor or his cabinet, other than his lapdogs of course.
ABE, man stabbed in the neck in Gross Towers Towers east last night and no local is covering the story?
I heard from APD officers that it is routine not to report incidents.
Not when half the entire force shows up at allentown housing authority buildings regularly. Allentown Housing Athority should be in allentowns hall of shame as there mission statement is compromised to say the least and there needs to be a forensic accounting because of the disrepair most of there sites suffer leaving tenants living in third world countries.
acid attack in jersey city today. it's coming
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