Quality of Life Team provides residents preventative protection

Northampton Police have more than just issuing tickets solving existing crime on their minds thanks to the department’s Quality of Life Team, a division with four dedicated officers who work to make community life in Northampton better overall.

The team is able to answer calls and spend more time solving problems or work on ways to prevent future issues in the community. They also visit schools, do traffic research studies and have implemented several programs for ensuring better police-resident relationships, Northampton Township police officer Steve Kingsdorf said.

“Our calendar is pretty much clear so if we need to spend three hours rectifying a problem, we can spend that time,” Kingsdorf said. “[Patrol] cars on the street do not have that luxury.”

The QLT was formed in 1999 and at its beginning only had one officer. More than 10 years later, three of the team’s four officers are certified in accident reconstruction, a level of training that allows an officer to take physical evidence and mathematically recreate what occurred at the site, Kingsdorf said.

The team has many duties under its command including public relations efforts, crime prevention, traffic safety, crisis intervention, alcohol law enforcement and research and development, Kingsdorf said.

One of the many programs the team is proud of implementing is the Northampton Township Police Department network alert system, which is distributed electronically by email. The idea is community members, business owners and those who work in the township can sign up for the network and be notified immediately if there is a pressing matter in the community. Officials will also send out reminders such as one to move parked cars out of the street so plows can get through, Police Chief Barry Pilla said.

The difference about the QLT is in the examples. In one neighborhood, officers took the time to visit every resident reminding them to get their cars off the streets before a big storm. 

“Parking and snow removals have been an issue for years,” Kingsdorf said, explaining how the team went door-to-door through a development and expressed the need for a joint effort to get the neighborhood straightened out.

“Residents called to thank us. It was night and day compared to how it’s been in the past,” he said.

Kingsdorf said he also has a soft spot for senior citizens in the community who either don’t have family nearby or are suffering from memory loss disorders like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“[The officers are] kind of like an extended family. That’s what they do,” he said. “They’re out there to bring help to those individuals who might not have family members." 

The team has quite a few success stories too including an alcohol enforcement situation that lead to a drug bust and confiscation of a drug house. Sometimes they work the counters at beer and liquor stores so they can identify underage buyers and confiscate fake Ids.

“We advertise it. It’s been a huge success,” Kingsdorf said.

Officer Michael Clark said the team is able to take care of even the simplest issues like complaints about noisy dogs. They can take the time to set up a mediation among neighbors and resolve the issues peacefully rather than going to court. 

“A lot of the problems aren’t really police problems,” Clark said. “We’re here for the community to make their lives as comfortable as we can.” 

However, Kingsdorf added that even though many of the issues don’t seem like typical police problems, “we’re supposed to protect and serve the residents of the township. Essentially, that is a police issue.”

The officers stressed that they have an open door policy and if anyone has issues they want to discuss with the QLT, they will make their best attempt to solve them.