ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown police officers have been working in “inhumane” conditions for much of the past month after the heat gave out at the city’s main police station, according to the president of the local police union.
People who’ve been arrested also have had to endure the cold conditions in Allentown Police Department’s holding cells since Dec. 28, when the heating system broke, Fraternal Order of Police President Dave Benner told LehighValleyNews.com on Thursday.
“There's been prisoners sitting in there to the point where I've heard … that we let some of them go because it was too cold."Dave Benner, president of the Allentown Fraternal Order of Police
An officer who’s been tracking the temperature reported an average reading of just over 50 degrees in recent weeks, while “they’ve measured conditions in the cellblock in the 40s,” Benner said.
“There's been prisoners sitting in there to the point where I've heard … that we let some of them go because it was too cold,” he said.
“It's cold in there … even when the heat works,” Benner said of the police department.
Allentown Communications Manager Genesis Ortega said the city’s building maintenance team identified an issue in the building’s heating system and reached out to a contractor to fix it.
That contractor projected the repair would take several weeks, with the heating system expected back online by Feb. 8, she said.
'Nothing's being done'
The Allentown Police Department’s station at 425 Hamilton St. will be warmed with “temporary heating units” — space heaters — for the next few weeks, Ortega said.
But Benner raised concerns about prolonged use of space heaters throughout the building, saying they could “overpower” the building’s circuit breakers.
And space heaters are “not going to do much” to warm the large building, he said.
"It’s inhumane treatment. [If] we're bringing someone in, they have the right to be treated humanely and not be sitting in a cellblock with a tissue-box heater.”Dave Benner, president of the Allentown Fraternal Order of Police
The union chief said he suggested APD leaders rent generators and commercial heating equipment until a permanent fix is made, but “they have done nothing to remedy this.”
Police superiors have ordered some officers to take off jackets and sweatshirts while in the station because they are not official APD equipment, Benner said.
“Nothing's being done, and I'm tired of it,” Benner said. “The chief just doesn't seem to care, and it’s inhumane treatment.
"[If] we're bringing someone in, they have the right to be treated humanely and not be sitting in a cellblock with a tissue-box heater.”
Some Allentown police officers are working in other locations, including the union’s headquarters, and the wait for heat at their workplace is sapping morale, Benner said.
“We're not complaining about the conditions outside," he said. "We signed up for that; I signed up for that. But when you come inside, you should have conditions that are favorable to work in.”
Police Chief Charles Roca did not respond directly to LehighValleyNews.com’s request for comment.
Investments needed
Ortega said the lack of heating further illustrates the need for investments in the city‘s properties.
“Buildings throughout the city of Allentown are old," Ortega said. "We need to make investments in them.
"And this is one issue — one very clear issue — [that shows] why we need to make investments.”
Mayor Matt Tuerk last year urged Allentown City Council to spend the last $10 million of the city’s funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to upgrade police and fire facilities.
City Council eventually allocated about $9 million in total funding for those projects.
Allentown Police Department first was built in 1963, while the heating and ventilation system was installed in the 1980s and is “way past the lifespan of any heating unit,” Ortega said.
“These systems are old; they need to be replaced; but it also takes money to do that,” Ortega said.
