A public viewing will be held starting at 2 p.m. for Scranton Police Patrolman John Wilding who was killed in the line of duty – watch news reports here: http://wnep.com/2015/07/16/public-viewing-for-fallen-scranton-officer/
Officer Wilding’s funeral will be Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton. You can watch the ceremony live on, WNEP-2 and on wnep.com.
WILKES-BARRE, PA — St. Patrick’s Day is upon Northeastern Pennsylvania, which will include a weekend of parades and other festivities.
For law enforcement, it will mean more work than usual.
Scranton Police Chief Carl Graziano was among the officials at a news conference held at the Lackawanna County Courthouse this week. Officials encouraged residents to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day safely and responsibly.
“As everybody knows, it’s no secret that that’s the biggest alcohol consumption day — at least in the city — is St. Patrick’s Day Parade day,” Graziano said.
Read more:
http://www.timesleader.com/news/home_top-local-news/152319939/
Scranton could have a difficult time shedding its distressed city status because of the pay raises and other perks in the revised police contract, a city councilman warned.
The city has until 2020 to successfully exit the state’s Act 47 financially distressed municipalities program. The new seven-year police contract approved by a split city council Thursday and signed by Mayor Bill Courtright Friday will hinder the city because the contract locks in pay raises and benefits beyond 2020, said Councilman Bill Gaughan.
He questioned whether the contract extension would “tie the city’s hands” by eliminating the possibility of negotiating in 2017 savings in a new police contract, while at the same time locking in raises and benefits a year beyond the Act 47 deadline of 2020.
Mr. Courtright disagreed that the contract extension will make it more difficult for the city to successfully exit Act 47.
Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One.
That’s the number of racial minorities on the 143-officer Scranton police force.
Meanwhile, Scranton has morphed into a fairly diverse city in recent years.
The 2010 census reported the city was more than 5 percent black and 3 percent Asian. More than 80 percent is white. About 10 percent of the population is Latino.
With the mostly white police force in Ferguson, Missouri, making headlines while trying to quell protests from the mostly black town residents after a white officer shot a black teenager last month, the lack of diversity in police departments, and the problems that come with it, have been pulled back into the public eye.
Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/diversity-lacking-in-scranton-w-b-police-1.1748937
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lackawanna County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Scranton City Council on Thursday unanimously approved having the city create a community video-camera surveillance network at police headquarters.
Council voted 5-0, with President Bob McGoff and Councilmen Joe Wechsler, Pat Rogan, Jack Loscombe and Bill Gaughan all in favor, to adopt a resolution to apply for and execute a $146,390 grant for a “community surveillance network system” at the police station on South Washington Avenue.
Council also unanimously advanced on second reading an ordinance to create an account to process the grant.
The surveillance network would allow private surveillance cameras in the city, such as those at banks, businesses or colleges, to link to the police station. There, a wall of 32 video monitors will show live feeds from privately owned and operated surveillance cameras that already exist in public areas.
Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/scranton-oks-camera-network-1.1695262
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lackawanna County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As Aazis Richardson walked out of the makeshift courtroom at Scranton Police Headquarters to the holding cell, he gave a simple explanation for shooting a McCarthy Flowered Cab driver twice in the back of the head early Friday morning.
“That’s what I do to people that don’t listen.”
Just hours after Vincent Darbenzio was murdered in his driver’s seat, police found the 16-year-old hiding in an attic at 1009-1011 Washburn St. with suspected blood on his pants and arrested him.
Richardson, 1011 Washburn St., Scranton, was charged with first-, second- and third-degree murder, robbery and related counts. He was sent to Lackawanna County Prison without bail. His preliminary hearing is set for May 30.
Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/scranton-police-arrest-16-year-old-in-cabbie-s-murder-1.1691773
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lackawanna County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
SCRANTON, PA — The shooting death of a McCarthy cab driver has been ruled a homicide, Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland said.
Vincent Darbenzio, 47, of Scranton, died from multiple gunshot wounds to his head, Mr. Rowland said. Scranton police and the Lackawanna County District Attorney offices are conducting the homicide investigation.
Mr. Darbenzio was dead inside his cab early this morning, said Brian McCarthy, owner of McCarthy Flowered Cabs. Mr. Darbenzio, 47, was dispatched early this morning to Washburn Street to pick up an individual and drop him or her off at Valley View Terrace.
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lackawanna County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Rather than dialing 911 for every minor crime, Scranton residents can create their own police reports starting next week.
The Scranton Police Department will launch a new online police report system on Monday. Scranton Police Chief Carl Graziano said the new Coplogic system will allow residents to file police reports for minor crimes.
“This will alleviate 15-20 percent of officers having to respond to take these reports,” Chief Graziano said. “Those officers can be staying out in the neighborhoods.”
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lackawanna County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A man purported to be the main supplier of heroin in the Hazleton area was arrested Thursday night, smashing his drug ring and landing the Scranton Police Department one of the largest heroin seizures in its history.
Officers from the Scranton Police Special Investigations Division, with the assistance of Lackawanna County detectives and agents from the FBI, arranged a deal between a confidential police informant and Willy Perez, 35, who officers learned was operating a heroin ring in the Scranton and Hazleton areas, police said.
Mr. Perez had several people package and deliver heroin and cocaine for him, sometimes in disguise, according to an arrest affidavit. One “runner,” known as “Mohamed,” wore Domino’s Pizza delivery uniforms as a cover when delivering the drugs.
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