UPDATE 8/6/20: Constable Tricia Mezzacappa (#BadConstable #ConstableKaren), who is unhinged, seems intent on pulling people into her bizarro world of insanity. Since publishing the following post in 2019 she tries to persuade others that the words, “Poo Poo” in the title, refers to the monetary donation given our police department.
“Poo Poo” obviously refers to the BS a few people were writing online (much of it by Mezzacappa) about forming the police department, as anyone who reads this post will see for themselves.
Mezzacappa, our resident common scold, Tea Party nutjob, and prime example of a failed life and career, is a stain on our great community of West Easton. Her insane rants and published conspiracy theories are likely the reason she can only find part-time work at parking garages and home improvement centers.
A news conference was held at the site of the planned West Easton Police Station yesterday afternoon. The event was held to announce that West Easton was receiving a check for $10,000 from The Drug Forfeiture Fund.
The check was presented to Mayor DePaul by Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli. Police Consultant Robert Mahady was also on hand and interviewed.
A number of news organizations attended the gathering, including Fox 29 News from Philadelphia, The Morning Call, WFMZ News, and The Express-Times. Political blogger Bernie O’hare also attended and posted a blog regarding West Easton’s plan to remove some of the burden placed on State Police, who provide communities police protection for free.
Generally, West Easton forming its own police department received a positive review, but with those reports are the social media comments found online.
As usual, Lehigh Valley Live, the online version of The Express-Times, whose moderators don’t enforce their own guidelines, allow comments that are unrelated to the story.
Keyboard Warriors who don’t identify themselves are out and about, posting comments that they wouldn’t say to someone’s face. Most of them are harmless and I can see the humor, but a couple are a bit much.
Others are simply uneducated in that they don’t know the background of why West Easton is starting its own part-time police department.
“…pay the salary of 1 full time Wilson cop to cover your town and you would still spend less,” said one.
Considering Wilson Borough demanded $250,000 with a 5% increase every year to cover West Easton, we would not spend less. In a decade we would burn through our capital and be bankrupt unless local taxes were raised through the roof.
Another posted, “What is the point? Have Wilson and Easton cops cover West Easton.”
Easton Mayor Sal Panto once alluded to $200,000 (plus a yearly increase) to cover West Easton on a part-time basis. So that’s $250,000 for Wilson and $200,000 for Easton. More to the point, Easton has little desire to cover West Easton and made it abundantly clear when they refused to contract with us again in 2013.
Genius!
Disregarding the out-of-town knuckleheads talking through that hole located inside the back of their pants, what I’m hearing from the majority West Easton residents is that they want a local police presence. Like me, they want it at an affordable price – one that won’t bankrupt our borough.
They want abandoned cars removed and local ordinances enforced, including deterring those who run stop signs as they race from Lehigh Drive to Freemansburg Avenue, or other areas in town. That can be done with a part-time police force.
Obviously, there will be times when a part-time force isn’t on duty. If it is a serious problem State Police will respond quickly. If not, then our part-time officer will respond when he/she comes on duty.
A former West Easton public official questioned whether “the extra cost of a police force will be worth it to the community.”
Considering the budget of $150,000/yr for it hasn’t resulted in a tax increase and is far below the $1 Million the public was told it would cost when he abandoned the idea, I believe it is.
Road Dept. Supervisor Dane Thatcher has spent a lot of time preparing and fixing up the police station located at 301 Sixth Street. Mayor DePaul, as well as others have assisted and done their fair share of work – and DePaul is no slouch at saving money, or locating equipment at a discount.
I’m likely one of the most frugal people when it comes to spending money. Should a day come when it isn’t worth it, I’ll be shouting the loudest.
