Nazareth mayor looking into allegations against police chief
Nazareth Mayor Carl R. Strye Jr. said he personally is looking into a resident's allegations of racism, bullying and other wrongdoing against police Chief Thomas Trachta, but added, "I'm convinced most of this is unfounded."
Strye's action comes a day after political blogger Bernie O'Hare urged Borough Council to fire the five-year police chief over several infractions alleged by O'Hare, including using code words such as UNB to refer to "unwanted N-word in Borough."
"If [police] were doing anything like that, I'd have heard about it and I've never, ever heard anyone say that was going on," Strye said Tuesday, referring to the code words. "There's no way it's true. I'm talking with the officers, and I'll take a look at some of these other things. If reprimands are warranted, we'll do that, but I'm convinced most of this is unfounded."
O'Hare, a Nazareth resident who says his campaign to get Trachta fired has led at least one officer to try to intimidate him, is less than confident Strye will conduct a valid investigation.
more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/nazareth/mc-nazareth-mayor-responds-20140708,0,3367724.story