Easton Police Force Fully Staffed, Captain Says

For the first time in at least a decade, the Easton Police Department has a full compliment of officers.

That's according to Captain David Beitler, who reported on new additions to the department at Tuesday night's meeting of city council's public safety committee.

The city will have 63 officers on its force by the end of this month, with the addition of three new officers.

Easton has budgeted money for a 63-member department since 2009, but hasn't been able to hit that goal until now.

The new hires will allow the department to promote two patrol officers into vacant detective and sergeant positions, Beitler said.

And having 63 officers will also allow the department to spend more time monitoring its 19 surveillance cameras, he added.

The cameras were another topic before the committee, prompted in part by recent news stories—including one by NBC 10—on how the city has had to use civilian volunteers to watch the cameras.

“It made us look like a hick town that buys cameras but can’t afford to watch them," Mayor Sal Panto said, noting that a friend of his from Philadelphia called to needle him about the story. 

Beitler said the cameras have been effective in investigating accidents, burglaries, and more serious crimes.

“We are using them almost daily," he said, but declined to go into detail on how they were being used.