Pittsburgh Hires Consultant, Former Wisconsin Police Captain As Chief

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pittsburgh‘s new police chief is from the Midwest, but has plenty of ties to the community.

Mayor Bill Peduto on Tuesday named Cameron McLay, a consultant and former captain in the Madison, Wis., police department, to lead the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police.

McLay, whose family is from Squirrel Hill and Wilkinsburg and who spent three years living in Mt. Lebanon as a youth, fills a void left by Nate Harper. Harper is serving 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in October to taking city money and failing to file income tax returns.

He is expected to begin work Sept. 15 and take over for acting Chief Regina McDonald.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/6720931-74/peduto-pittsburgh-police#ixzz3CBhZw2DM
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Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Street Crimes Unit Nets Over 100 Arrests In Hazleton

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HAZLETON, PA — The state’s top cop came to Hazleton on Wednesday to trumpet the success of her Mobile Street Crimes Unit, which has netted more than 100 arrests and seized more than 35,000 packets of heroin in southern Luzerne County over the past five months.

Just in the last three days, state Attorney General Kathleen Kane said, agents made more than 40 arrests and seized 9,060 packets of heroin as part of Operation Rising Star — a moniker chosen by Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea.

Kane said Hazleton has been “a breeding ground” for the distribution of heroin, with interstates 80 and 81 nearby as a convenient pipeline to New York City and northern New Jersey suppliers.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/1205689/Crimes-unit-nets-over-100-arrests-in-Hazleton-area

Bull Market For Bullets

The ongoing debate over stricter gun control measures in the wake of the Dec. 14 massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., has prompted millions of gun enthusiasts to buy more guns and ammunition.

Public meetings and congressional hearings on proposals to ban assault-type rifles, limit magazines for semi-automatic rifles and pistols to 10 rounds and institute universal background checks, have caused a run on wholesale and retail firearms, ammunition and accessories.

President Barack Obama addressed gun control in his State of the Union speech Tuesday and spoke to the media Friday about the fatal shooting of a young girl from his hometown of Chicago who had marched as a drum majorette in his inauguration parade.

One result of the focus on gun control is an ongoing shortage of ammunition for consumers and some law enforcement agencies.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=453211

Next Generation Of Reading Police Cameras Keeping Watch

Security camera at London (Heathrow) Airport. Taken by Adrian Pingstone in August 2004 and released to the public domain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Pottstown needs to get cameras! There are grants out there!

Criminals, beware, for Big Brother is getting more eyes to see you.

And remember you.

Reading’s next round of 20 security cameras is being installed in new neighborhoods, augmenting the 27 cameras in the downtown network since 2008.

“We’ve been pretty successful with them,” Police Chief William M. Heim said, noting there have been dozens of cases in which the existing cameras have been helpful in solving crimes and arresting suspects.

In March, City Council awarded a $650,000 camera contract to New York-based Let’s Think Wireless, with money from the same 2007 federal grant of $1.7 million that bought the first round from the same company.

Read more:   http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=451985

Two Killed, Two Wounded In New Year’s Shootings In Reading

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two men were killed and another two were wounded in a series of overnight shootings in Reading, investigators said.

One man was shot to death and another grazed about 3:50 a.m., according to city police Sgt. John M. Solecki.

According to Solecki:

The pair and another man were driving around northeast Reading looking for a club where they were supposed to pick somebody up.  They stopped to ask directions from a man walking in the 900 block of Amity Street who fired several shots into the vehicle, fatally wounding the driver and grazing one of the passengers.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=440178

Upper Macungie Swears In 28 New Officers

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lehigh County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Upper Macungie Township began a new era Friday when 28 officers were sworn in to become the first members of the township’s new police department.

Police Chief Edgardo Colon said the ceremony was more meaningful because the township planned the police department from the ground up. Formerly, the Berks-Lehigh Regional Police Department serviced the township, but Upper Macungie elected to break away and form its own department.

“Everybody is eager and ready and prepared to move forward and start going to work,” Colon said.

Nicklaus Morris, one of the officers sworn in on Friday, echoed Colon’s sentiments.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/parkland/mc-upper-macunge-new-police-department-20121228,0,2751181.story

Harrisburg Shootings Lead To Street Barricade, Shaken Residents

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hours after Harrisburg police barricaded an uptown street for safety, shots rang out throughout the city’s crime-ridden Allison Hill early Saturday, wounding at least two men and leaving residents shaken.

Residents, some awakened by volleys of bullets, found the sound of gunfire all too familiar.

Gunshot victims bled on the streets, one on South 14th and one on Brookwood.

Police cars, their lights flashing “like Christmas trees” as one resident described it, descended on the neighborhoods.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/08/harrisburg_shootings_lead_to_s.html

Pottstown’s Crime Rate Is A CRIME!

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  I have been harping away on this subject for a very long time.  This article is further evidence of the SERIOUS problem that is keeping Pottstown from moving forward!  The current Chief of Police and Council President should hang their heads in shame.  To think the Chief of Police makes $100,000 (taxpayer funded) and gets these flabbergasting results should make every resident of Pottstown furious!

Pottstown, PA Crime Rate Among Highest in State

“Within Pennsylvania, more than 98% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Pottstown.”

A recent Patch poll asked Pottstown residents what keeps Pottstown from success. With crime ranking among the top concerns, it is worth taking a closer look at just how bad crime is in Pottstown. The results are quite disturbing.

It is important to note that crime is split into two categories – property crime and violent crime. The measure of each is a number of crimes for every 1,000 residents. Property crime consists of burglary, theft, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Violent crime consists of murder, rape, non-negligent manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, including assault with a deadly weapon.

According to NeighborhoodScout, a highly ranked real estate search website – “Pottstown has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes.”

Please read the rest of the eye-opening article: http://www.threatcore.com/pottstown-crime/