There is an explanation, Bethlehem’s recently retired police chief said Friday.
Mark DiLuzio is a “Seinfeld” addict.
And the first “Jurassic Park” is among his favorites. Don’t ask him about the other films in that franchise. Not a fan.
So, when he saw a meme on Sunday on Facebook featuring Wayne Knight -- Newman from “Seinfeld” -- in a scene from the 1993 movie, the longtime Bethlehem cop saw humor. (In that scene, Knight’s character blurts out some apparently secret information about dinosaur DNA, just told to him by the person sitting nearby, only to have no one respond.)
The wording in the meme was similar to the movie, only in this case it was LeBron James’ superimposed head saying something about NBA players refusing to play during a time of racial strife that Knight’s character would then announce to no reaction.
“I thought it was plain funny,” DiLuzio said of the post he shared. “I thought it was funny in the context of ’Seinfeld.’ Not in the context of being racial.”
Critics on Bethlehem City Council were not amused. Councilman J. William Reynolds on Thursday acknowledged trust can be rebuilt after an episode like this, but that it’s “much, much more difficult when the leaders make statements such as the reposting of that.” Councilwoman Olga Negron was incredulous, at a time of national strife between the public and police, that “this is what we get from our leader” of the police department, and she called for his immediate retirement.
In accepting that resignation Friday morning, Mayor Bob Donchez stated, “Chief DiLuzio has accepted that his standing in the community has been compromised. This has happened at a time when the citizens of Bethlehem justly expect the effectiveness of their chief of police to be beyond reproach.”
DiLuzio maintains he saw no additional message with the post, and that he has a photo to prove that. When a buddy called to tell him about the text, with racist tones, that appeared with the meme, “It turned into a racial thing,” DiLuzio said. “I let the mayor know. I let everyone know.”
He knew his 40-year career was likely over on Monday, he said: “I saw the knives out.”
When you get DiLuzio on the phone, or in person, his demeanor is generally relaxed. And as he cheerfully chatted Friday with lehighvalleylive.com, something was quite clear: He wasn’t terribly upset that he was no longer police chief, a job he took in 2014 after a stellar career on patrol then as a detective that began in 1989, following nine years as a Lehigh University officer and detective.
“It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder,” the 60-year-old 1978 Parkland High School and 1986 Allentown College of St. Francis DeSales graduate said. “Especially under today’s conditions.”
He was going to retire at the end of the year anyway and it doesn’t impact his pension to go out a few months early, he said.
DiLuzio looked back and ahead on Friday morning during a lengthy interview.
He went through the police academy and joined Lehigh’s department in 1980. He would advance to detective and investigate with Pennsylvania State Police the 1986 killing of Jeanne Ann Clery at the hands of fellow student Josoph Henry in a dorm at the university on Southside. The killing would change state and federal law about how much a school needs to tell its students about crime.
The move from Lehigh’s department to the city force mirrored that of many colleagues. He was a patrolman for two years before joining the vice unit. In his eight years as a detective there, he worked undercover on federal, state and local cases, he said.
He was promoted to detective sergeant and then detective lieutenant in the criminal investigations operation.
DiLuzio gained a reputation as a bloodhound, a former colleague offered.
“I was told by people I could talk paint off the wall,” DiLuzio said. “You sit down and talk to people. No threats. It’s just a matter of talking to people. I tell my guys now, ‘Talk to people, you’ll find out a lot of information.’”
The confessions flowed. At one point a defense attorney saw DiLuzio’s name on court papers, and said there’s no point going forward, the former chief offered with a chuckle.
He was a good investigator and when the offer to move from lieutenant to chief came in 2014, he took a weekend to think about it.
He had done a lot of investigations, had worked many homicides. He really liked that sort of work.
He spoke with many people and finally decided to take the promotion.
And he’s pleased and proud that he did.
“I doubled the number of minority officers, including Blacks and Hispanics and women,” he said, understanding that women may be a majority in the world, but that their numbers remain relatively small in police work.
In 2014, Bethlehem had four Black officers, five Hispanic officers and six women on the force, records show. By 2020, there were five Black officers, 12 Hispanic officers and nine women, one of them a captain in the professional services unit.
“I’m leaving a department that is more diverse than I took over,” he said. “And of that I’m very proud. I’m leaving a department in very good condition.”
It’s the only municipal department in the Lehigh Valley with state and federal accreditation, and he expects both of those to be renewed this year.
“I’m very proud of everybody on the job that works to keep this department accredited,” he said.
He figures he will do some consulting and has other interests, he said.
It upsets him, he said turning to today’s racially charged national climate, that all police are labeled as racists and thugs. And that they’re targeted for violence. He’s worried that of thousands of killings that happen every year in major cities, the only ones that bring visceral complaint and protest are when police officers kill people of color.
“I don’t judge people by what they look like,” he said. “I think there is a bigger discussion to be had here about this whole situation in America. It involves police but it also involves a lot of other things.
“… Right now in America with everything going on, it’s extremely stressful for police. We’re getting a bad rap on certain situations.”
He has clearly stated before that when a police officer kills or hurts someone in a criminal fashion, that officer needs to face charges. And when a community explodes around that killing, DiLuzio has said he gets it. But when a protest departs from being peaceful, looting and rioting are not acceptable, he said.
And clearly, he said, communities need police. Without them, vigilantism takes hold — as has been seen in recent days in some cities.
He said he’s particularly frustrated when children are the victim of violent crime and no one seems to get upset.
“Don’t those lives matter?” he asked. “If you want to stop the violence, let’s stop the violence. But let’s not put a color in front of it.”
DiLuzio said he worked with a lot of good cops, judges and community leaders.
“People who know me know what I worked for and stand for,” DiLuzio said. And, despite the “toxic environment out here” and an enormous amount of stress, he’d do it again, he said.
DiLuzio, who grew up in South Allentown and moved in the early 1970s to North Whitehall Township, said he leaves with 45 letters of accommodation and four unit citations -- and “no regrets about anything I did in my career.”
What else might he do?
“Maybe I’ll start coming to council, since I know how council works now,” he said then laughed. “Maybe I’ll go into politics. I’ve been asked. They said, ‘With your experience, it would be a change.’”
But for now, possibly a relaxing drive in the country, since vacations are pretty much out of the picture in the time of the coronavirus.
“It’s been a privilege to serve in Bethlehem” he said.
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Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com.
The Link LonkSeptember 05, 2020 at 07:03AM
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Former Bethlehem police chief explains the meme post and looks back on long career - lehighvalleylive.com
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