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Allentown Police Department struggling to work without heat for a month
Allentown Police Department have been struggling for almost a full month during this winter season after their heating system stopped working.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Allentown Police Department has been working without heat in the middle of winter for almost a full month.
FOX 29’s Dawn Timmeney spoke to the President of the FOP Queen City Lodge, Dave Brenner, who said the lack of heat is inhumane.
Brenner says the city's 200 plus officers have been dealing with no heat since the heating system broke on December 28th.
"Enough is enough. We're a big city here," said Dave Brenner, FOP President, Queen City Lodge."The men and women deserve better. We work in harsh weather regardless. When we come inside, at least we could work in conditions that somewhat favorable."
Police officers describe the average temperature as between 40 and 50 degrees.
The city says the building is old and the HVAC system is outdated.
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However, the mayor says they have provided a short-term solution and are working to fully fix the problem.
"We are trying to play catch up with years of deferred maintenance, said Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk. "I feel terrible for our officers who are freezing their butts off…and we're doing everything we can to bring conditions back up to standards."
The city is providing space heaters while it awaits a replacement part to get the system up and running, but the union says they are barely doing their job, especially in the holding cells.
"The space heaters in some of the cell blocks are the size of a tissue box," said Brenner. "Costco heaters don't heat commercial buildings."
According to the mayor, the city's men and women in blue are a top priority. He said they are working on a total overhaul of the public safety building, but admits that will take time.
"I ask them to bear with me as we continue to make improvements to their work environment."
The replacement part for the heater is expected in about two weeks.
The Chief of Police also provided officers with department authorized warm weather gear including knit caps, scarves and jackets in the interim.