Despite the dire warnings of the city's imminent descent into moral turpitude when the Sands opened in May, serious offenses are down nearly 20%. In a year in which the entire country faced serious economic hardship and rising unemployment, Bethlehem is actually getting safer.
Police Chief Stuart Bedics credits community policing for part of this trend. The city's community-based force was bolstered by Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham's Safe Streets program, which funded half the cost of community police positions in the municipalities of the county. Bethlehem added two officers as a result of the program.
Safe Streets was controversial at first because it was a new avenue of crime reduction efforts for the County. While some Commissioners claimed funding officers wasn't appropriate for the County, Cunningham countered that crime reduction was a fiscally responsible action. About 3/4 of County tax dollars are spent dealing with crime after the fact. Bethlehem's crime stats this year translate into savings for both Lehigh and Northampton's court and prison systems.
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