Grading the crime summit

A year ago, more than 100 public, private and law enforcement leaders got together to talk about ways to reduce Reading-Berks crime. The gathering produced a plan to focus on ve areas. The Reading Eagle asked people to assess progress in those ve areas using letter grades, and to issue a letter grade for overall progress since the crime summit Christian Y. Leinbach County commissioner Kevin S. Barnhardt County commissioner Judith L. Schwank State representative

Mark C. Scott County commissioner

John T. Adams District attorney

ObjEctIVE: Determine how Berks County and Reading officials can better work together on law enforcement issues.

BNA

B A
NA

CA F D
NA

A BC
NA

B B D
NA

ObjEctIVE: Examine consolidating some smaller local police departments for better efficiency and increasing regional law enforcement cooperation in the county and across county lines. A delegation of county officials and state legislators will work on this.

ObjEctIVE: Attempt to nd more funding for federal programs that temporarily pay for more municipal police, buy bulletproof vests and fund other areas of local law enforcement. Funding for those programs has been decreased in recent years, but U.S. Sens. Bob Casey Jr. and Pat Toomey and Berks Countys four U.S. Representatives will look into nding more money.

CCNA OVERall GRaDE

ObjEctIVE: Visit Blair County and Altoona to review a countywide effort there to address crime. State police will lead a delegation of county and city officials. The program there is in the style of Weed and Seed, a federal and state program that formerly operated in Reading, but the Blair program is privately funded by businesses and residents. NA

ObjEctIVE: Work with the U.S. Department of Justice to form a joint law enforcement committee similar to the ones operating in other regions of the country. It will share information among local, state and federal law enforcement. The U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of Pennsylvania will take the lead on this. NA

B B
Paul R. Stolz Jr. 2012-13 President, Berks County Chiefs of Police Association

NA

C+

B
Ellen T. Horan President and CEO, Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce & Industry

CJane Palmer Coordinator, Rebuilding Reading Poverty Commission

C
Michael Toledo Executive director, Daniel Torres Hispanic Center

Thomas R. Caltagirone State representative

ObjEctIVE: Determine how Berks County and Reading officials can better work together on law enforcement issues.

A A
NA

B+
NA

NA

B B C A A B

B
NA

ObjEctIVE: Examine consolidating some smaller local police departments for better efficiency and increasing regional law enforcement cooperation in the county and across county lines. A delegation of county officials and state legislators will work on this. NA

ObjEctIVE: Visit Blair County and Altoona to review a countywide effort there to address crime. State police will lead a delegation of county and city officials. The program there is in the style of Weed and Seed, a federal and state program that formerly operated in Reading, but the Blair program is privately funded by businesses and residents.

B C
NA

NA

B
NA

ObjEctIVE: Visit Blair County and Altoona to review a countywide effort there to address crime. State police will lead a delegation of county and city officials. The program there is in the style of Weed and Seed, a federal and state program that formerly operated in Reading, but the Blair program is privately funded by businesses and residents.

A A
OVERall GRaDE

NA

ObjEctIVE: Work with the U.S. Department of Justice to form a joint law enforcement committee similar to the ones operating in other regions of the country. It will share information among local, state and federal law enforcement. The U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of Pennsylvania will take the lead on this. NA NA

NA = Grade-giver did not have enough information or felt progress was too incomplete to grade.