READING, Pa. – During its Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night, Reading City Council heard a report from Chief of Police Elias "Eli" Vazquez on his summer initiative to address ongoing issues in the city.
"Early on, I saw a need for us to really think about a plan for the summer. and so I wanted to put some strategies together so that we can be able to combat (problems)," Vazquez said.
"About a month ago, we started the summer initiative, so it encompasses the dirt bike issue, gun violence, offender management and issues at the Pagoda and riverfront," he said.
Dirt bikes
"Obviously, the biggest issue is the dirt bikes, and we all know that it's not a Reading problem; it's a county problem," Vazquez said. "It's a public safety issue, and it's an officer safety issue."
Vazquez said the city has not seen any major issues with gatherings of bikers since a police officer was assaulted on Skyline Drive in early June.
"We're using social media to our advantage," he explained. "We recently uploaded a link where citizens can send pictures, videos and any information that they may have to upload on this link to help us out and get intel."
"And then we're also pushing the consequences of engaging in these types of activities and trying to educate the citizens as much as we can," Vazquez added. "As part of this summer initiative, I did a dirt bike detail. I'm trying to get officers to work solely on this issue."
Vazquez said the detail works on gathering information to find out where the bikers are hanging out and to get photographs to determine if they are hiding illegal or stolen bikes.
"What they do is, they go out, get their information intel, and then they'll let the patrol officers know where they're (the bikers) gathering and try to get there before they start gathering as a preventative measure," he said.
"When they are behind one of these dirt bike riders and they know there's a possibility that there's a pursuit that's going to happen, we will go in an unmarked car next to them, and take a photo of their faces," Vasquez said.
"They take that picture, and they'll give it to the patrol officers, and there's a lot of patrol officers out there that know these guys, and and then we can start working on getting arrest warrants for them for misdemeanor violations," he said. "So that's already proven effective several times."
Vazquez added that police are also impounding ATVs, dirt bikes and motorcycles that are illegal, using state statutes and city ordinances.
Offender management
Vazquez said the police check on offenders on probation or parole to follow up on any conditions placed on their release.
He said the police are working with the juvenile, probation and state parole officers who assist in looking for subjects violating their probation.
Pagoda and riverfront gatherings
"As far as the Pagoda and riverfront, I know your property manager has put some new locks up there on those (Pagoda) gates," Vasquez said. "The gates at the riverfront have been locked up for a while, and the curbs have been painted over so that nobody can park on there."
"People still gather, but the cars are not," Vasquez said. "Patrol officers are doing patrols as they can in between calls. And I make sure that the efforts are put on what we call a 24-hour report."
Vazquez added that police are looking forward to the new gates being installed to limit access to Skyline Drive during night hours.
"I'm looking forward to that; that is going to help out quite a bit," he said.
School resource officers
Vazquez stated that school resource officers who normally work in the schools during the school year are now helping with patrols, specifically in the parks, to conduct preventative patrolling and deal with quality-of-life issues.
Gun violence
"From 2021 to 2024, we've seized 334 firearms; 94 of those were in a gun buyback program," he said. "Year-to-date for this year, we've seized 35 guns, and that's 35 guns that can cause some serious harm to not only the public, but also to the officers. And we've made 47-gun related arrests so far."
"We continue doing our own narcotics investigations, as always, and some of them are obviously continuous and open investigations," Vazquez added. "But that helps reduce gun violence a lot because we often find guns with drugs. That's just the nature of the beast."
Vazquez said the police are working with the sheriff's office to create a gun violence detail to hit all the hot spots throughout the city.
Fireworks
"We put out information to the media, to the public through social media, and put out informational sheets as well," Vazquez said. "We sent out information to all the different agencies in the county on how to deal with these issues and also that our bomb squad would be assisting them in in disposing of all illegal fireworks."
Vazquez said there were no major incidents to report over the Independence Day holiday.
Drones
Vazquez said the Berks County district attorney's office has suggested the police get some drones that could assist the police with several investigative issues.
"The only issue with that is obviously getting officers that are interested in it," he said. "And secondly, to get them certified with the [Federal Aviation Administration], because you must be certified to be able to apply for those. But that's an option and something that would be useful for us."
