{"id":287059,"date":"2026-09-16T05:52:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T05:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/287059\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T05:52:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T05:52:56","slug":"bethlehem-city-council-approves-homeland-security-investigations-agreement-in-4-3-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/287059\/","title":{"rendered":"Bethlehem City Council approves Homeland Security Investigations agreement in 4-3 vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bethlehem City Council met Sept. 15<\/a> to approve a memorandum of understanding with Homeland Security Investigations, increase fees for police records requests and adopt an updated property maintenance code.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council members also discussed the city\u2019s fire and EMS study<\/a>. Then they approved a three-year cost allocation agreement and use permit agreements for upcoming events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Homeland Security Investigations agreement sparks debate over federal involvement<\/p>\n

The council approved a memorandum of understanding with Homeland Security Investigations <\/a>in a 4-3 vote after council members debated the federal agency\u2019s involvement in local police investigations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Police Chief Michelle Kott said the agreement would give the Bethlehem Police Department access to federal funding, resources and investigative support for complex cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGone are the days where crime is landlocked and limited to the city block,\u201d Kott said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kott said the department handles about 10 complex investigations every year including crimes such as human trafficking, sex trafficking, child exploitation, drug smuggling, financial fraud and export violations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing the best we can, but we need these resources to further these investigations,\u201d Kott said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under this agreement, the Bethlehem police officer assigned as the Title 19 Task Force Officer\u00a0 would remain a member of the Bethlehem Police Department and report to Bethlehem police supervisors while working with an Homeland Security Investigations supervisor. Either party can terminate the agreement with 30 days\u2019 written notice to the other party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Hillary Glatt Kwiatek raised concerns about the federal agency\u2019s authority over the officer position.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a little bit more than I had expected in terms of the level of authority that HSI will have over this position,\u201d Kwiatek said. \u201c\u2026I trust you, Chief. I do not trust the Department of Homeland Security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kott emphasized that this agreement wouldn\u2019t give Bethlehem police officers authority to enforce immigration law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Justin K. Amann, councilman, said the police department has proven, over the last few years, their commitment to thorough investigations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly think giving your department the resources to be able to do their job comes to my mind as the most pressing matter,\u201d Amann said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a motion to table the matter failed 3-4, and a motion to authorize Kott to amend the memorandum of understanding died, the resolution passed 4-3.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Police records fees to increase in 2027\u00a0<\/p>\n

The council approved increases to several police records fees <\/a>beginning Jan. 1, 2027, with a 6-1 vote. This increase is the first since 2015.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fingerprinting and criminal history background checks will each increase from $15 to $20. The city will also charge $125 for audio and video recording requests, including body-worn camera footage, in-car camera footage and other department-maintained footage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kott said the department has received 27 Act 22 requests,<\/a> for audio or video footage, since May and that processing the footage requires significant staff time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a very, very complex, timely process,\u201d Kott said. \u201cWe are not a big enough police department that has a civilian staff that can just handle this as their primary duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the fees are intended to account for the work involved in retrieving, reviewing and redacting footage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council adopts updated property maintenance code<\/p>\n

The council unanimously approved an ordinance replacing the city\u2019s existing property maintenance code<\/a> with the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code and Bethlehem-specific amendments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ordinance establishes the Bureau of Housing Inspections as the city\u2019s code compliance agency and adds requirements for rental properties, exterior property maintenance and heating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under this new code, rental properties, excluding dorms and hotels, must have a local agent who lives within 20 miles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council approved three-year cost allocation plan<\/p>\n

Council unanimously approved a three-year agreement with Maximus U.S. Services Inc.<\/a> to prepare the city\u2019s full cost allocation plans for fiscal years 2026, 2027 and 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The agreement will cost $13,900 annually, $41,700 total.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is required for a number of uses,\u201d Business Administrator Eric Evans said. \u201cWhat it does is calculates the true cost of providing a service or for the department to deliver their product.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other council business<\/p>\n

Evans said the city\u2019s fire and EMS study is scheduled to be presented to council on Oct. 21.<\/p>\n

The council unanimously approved a $197,144.62 contract with Greenman-Pedersen, Inc.<\/a> for inspection services on a two-way conversion project on Linden Street. The city said PennDOT will reimburse the costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A $49,000 amendment to the Health Bureau\u2019s strategic planning contract<\/a> with Capacity for Change, LLC, was unanimously approved, extending the agreement through June 30, 2027. The additional work will be funded through a public health infrastructure grant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The council unanimously approved use permit agreements for ArtsQuest\u2019s 2026 Oktoberfest <\/a>and the Pennsylvania Running Company\u2019s 2026 Bethlehem Running Festival<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bethlehem City Council met Sept. 15 to approve a memorandum of understanding with Homeland Security Investigations, increase fees…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[5877,153,155,154,4777,524,1197],"class_list":["post-287059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-4-minute-read","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-city-government","tag-community","tag-feature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}