Allentown to offer Citizens Police Academy in Spanish for first time
For the first time in the majority-minority city it serves, the Allentown Police Department will conduct an edition of its Citizens Police Academy in Spanish, city leaders announced Friday.
Enabling non-English-speaking residents to participate in the academy is “crucial to bridging the gap between the community and law enforcement,” said council Vice President Cynthia Mota, who lobbied for the Spanish-language edition of the academy.
“When citizens are part of the process, it increases safety, and also empathy,” Mota said. “This is a big stepping stone for all of us. When community and police can work together, we increase public safety for all.”
This academy’s purpose is to improve community relations and provide citizens with insight into the criminal justice system. It does not certify citizens to perform law enforcement services.
Participants learn how officers process a crime scene and conduct criminal investigations, as well as firearms safety, vice and gang units, and use-of-force policy.
The academy will run 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays for six weeks from early May through mid-June at the Allentown Police Academy, 2110 Park Drive.
The police department will accept applications until March 12. Download the application on the Allentown Police Department’s website. Send completed applications to
APDcommunity@AllentownPA.gov.
Class sizes will be limited because of the pandemic.
Non-residents are welcome to apply, but residents and citizens who live and/or work within city limits will be given first priority.
Mota said she already knew of about 50 people interested in participating.
For years, Allentown has hosted a Citizens Police Academy and a Youth Police Academy. In 2019, it launched its first Senior Citizens Police Academy, drilling down on how to recognize phone scams, prevent identity theft, and avoid cybercrimes and other schemes disproportionately affecting senior citizens.
The Spanish-language academy is the latest in continuous efforts to reach and inform as
many citizens as possible, Mayor Ray O’Connell said.
“Through this program, we hope that our Spanish-speaking residents will gain a better understanding of the rules, regulations and policies our police have to follow each and every day behind the badge,” he said.
Allentown police officers, such as Assistant Chief Charlie Roca and Detective Luiz Garcia, addressed residents in Spanish during a news conference Friday afternoon. Chief Glenn E. Granitz Jr. said the department continues to recruit a more diverse police force and develop stronger community outreach initiatives. The Spanish-language academy, he said, “confirms
growth and change within our police department.”
“We are embracing change and moving forward with our community,” he said. “Our residents provide Allentown with strength and diversity, and amongst that diversity, our Latino population in particular is one we are committed to working with.”
For more information, contact the Community Outreach Unit at 610.437.7721 ext 2. or email at APDcommunity@AllentownPA. gov.
A freshman Colorado congresswoman who made waves in Washington for her staunch position on gun rights will speak Saturday at the Lehigh County Republican
Party’s Lincoln Day breakfast.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert will appear via Zoom alongside Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Lawrence Tabas, state Treasurer Steve Garity and Lisa Scheller, a Lehigh County Republican who ran against Democratic Congresswoman Susan Wild last year.
The event is set for 8 a.m. at Iron Lakes Country Club in North Whitehall Township. Boebert is expected to speak about the Second Amendment.
Boebert, whose district covers a vast swath of western Colorado, won a stunning victory, defeating a five-term incumbent in a primary election last year and going on to win her seat in November.
She has upset members of the Republican establishment and other lawmakers by insisting that she has a right to be armed on the House floor and criticized for expressing support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, although she has said she is not a follower.