Nazareth Police Department gains four additional officers

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Four new police officers are joining the Nazareth Police Department weeks after a longtime detective announced his departure and a part-time officer asked to scale back hours.

During Monday night's borough council meeting, Vice President Larry Stoudt announced the part-time hiring of Joseph Vrabel, Joseph Nunes, Daniel Dieter and Scott Ledo.

They will be paid an hourly rate of $16.50 to start and $18.91 the next year, police Chief Thomas Trachta said.

The department will be down to just two full-time officers once Detective Fred Lahovski leaves. Lahovski has already been sworn in as police chief in Forty Fort, Luzerne County, and starts the new position next week. The department has a full-time officer on workers' compensation who will be out of work until April. There are nine other part-time officers.

The department in July hired part-time officer Ben Rizzotto, who had been working as a part-time police officer in Upper Nazareth Township. The borough hired Justin Bickhardt, a police officer in Yardley Borough, but he later declined the part-time position.

Prior to the vote, South Broad Street resident Toni Hummel told council she has witnessed young people using drugs in daylight in the borough and additional police are needed to monitor crime.

"It seemed like things were starting to improve and now things are going back down again," Hummel said.

Stoudt told her the hiring of the part-time officers will be a solution until council decides what it's going to do with the police department. Borough officials have continued to express interest in coverage from Colonial Regional Police Department.

Mayor Fred Daugherty has cited escalating insurance costs, workers' compensation and grievance claims, and accidents by borough-insured vehicles as contributors making a borough-run force unaffordable.

Vrabel has 18 years of experience working in Moore Township, Pen Argyl, Northampton Borough and Stockertown. Nunes has 17 years experience working in Easton as a detective, as well as with the Freemansburg and Wilson police departments.

Dieter has three years experience working in Slatington, Lower Milford and Wilson. Ledo has 15 years experience working in Palmerton, Mahoning and Walnutport.

Trachta said he plans to start one officer first and stagger in the other three in the next couple of weeks.

"I would have liked to see full-time officers, but the part-timers will be helpful as a temporary solution," Trachta said following the meeting.

Council also approved Trachta's recommendation to have all police-related phone calls forwarded to the Northampton County 911 dispatch center when the police administrative assistant is not available to answer calls.

Trachta previously raised concerns that he wasn't receiving important phone calls left on the department's answering machine over the weekend until Monday.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2011/10/nazareth_police_department_gai_1.html