BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Bethlehem Police Department welcomed two new officers this week, a modest step forward for a force that has been operating well below its authorized strength.
Officer Wood, badge No. 534, and Officer Graaf, badge No. 535, were sworn in by Mayor J. William Reynolds earlier this week, the department announced Friday in a Facebook post. The department did not release the officers’ first names in the announcement.
The hires come as the department, authorized for 154 sworn officers, has struggled to fill its ranks. Chief Michelle Kott told City Council at a Nov. 20 budget hearing that the department had 16 vacancies, with 138 officers on the roster and only 127 available to work.
Both new officers graduated from the Allentown Police Academy on June 12, the department announced in an earlier post. Since joining the department, they have been completing internal training.
Next week, the two will enter the department’s Field Training Officer program, working alongside experienced officers as they prepare to patrol independently, according to the department’s post.
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The swearing-in follows a hiring timeline that Kott outlined last fall, when she said the department expected to hire two officers who would attend academy training in early 2026 and, ideally, begin work in the summer.
The new arrivals come less than two months after the department lost an officer in a departure that drew national attention. Officer Sean Reifel, whom Reynolds swore in on Aug. 18, 2025, left the force in May to compete on the reality dating show “Love Island USA,” where he was the first contestant eliminated from the season.
City officials characterized the departure as a resignation, saying it cost the city thousands of taxpayer dollars in training and left a vacancy that could not be filled until next year.
Reynolds, who discussed the matter in appearances on TMZ, said Reifel could return only by reapplying through the same hiring process as any other candidate.
Reifel has disputed his resignation, saying in interviews that the department approved his vacation and paid time off but denied his request for unpaid leave to cover the remainder of his absence. He has said he no longer plans to return to police work.
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Kott has repeatedly described the recruiting environment as difficult. “The applicant pool is no longer a pool — it’s actually a puddle,” she told City Council in October.
The chief has said vacancies “put a strain on current officers, driving up overtime costs” and limit the department’s ability to expand community policing initiatives.
Attrition looms as well. City officials have said 19 officers will be eligible to retire at the end of 2026, and the department’s contract with the Bethlehem Fraternal Order of Police Star Lodge No. 20 expires in December, with negotiations on a new agreement expected this year.
The department, the eighth-largest in Pennsylvania, serves a city of about 76,000 residents, a figure that swells to roughly 100,000 daily with visitors to Wind Creek Casino, SteelStacks, and the city’s two universities, according to the city.
Bethlehem closed its most recent police officer application cycle on June 12, advertising a 2027 top patrol salary of $104,822, according to the city. Candidates from that pool took physical agility and written examinations on July 9.
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