Allentown’s new interim chief of police uses a Facebook live video to outline his goals for the department
Charles Roca is the first Latino to hold the title in the city.
He served as assistant chief of police to his outgoing predecessor, Glenn Granitz, who was the city’s sixth police chief in as many years.
During the interactive video, Roca said some of his goals include crime education as well as connecting to the community with the continuation of the Spanish language police citizens academy. The first ever class graduated this month.
“I had one of the graduates come up to me and she said, ‘Yo quiero trabajar para la comunidad, para la policía.’ For those who don’t speak Spanish: ‘I want to work for you guys, I want to work for the police to spread that message,’ and that’s what it’s about. Building relationships,” Roca says.
Roca said he also hopes to address “quality of life” crimes in the city.
“A very big goal of mine is to address those quality of life crimes: the fireworks, the dirtbikes, the people who are driving around not caring, or the loud music that’s coming from there. This affects the quality of life. But I think it's also about educating individuals to know exactly what is a crime,” he says.
Roca says he also wants to increase the department’s transparency and continue to build bridges to the community.
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