City Will Charge for Police Funeral Escorts

City Council voted Wednesday night to end the city’s longstanding practice of providing free police escorts for all funerals in Bethlehem.

From now on, families who want uniformed escorts for funeral traffic processions will have to pay $150 for the privilege.

Legislation establishing a new fee and eliminating previous language that made cortege escorts mandatory in Bethlehem passed unanimously. A separate resolution setting the fee at $150 passed by a 6-1 vote, with Council President Robert Donchez dissenting.

Donchez told colleagues that he thought the initial amount proposed was too high. He would have preferred to see it set at $75 or $100.

Pat Connell, owner of , also urged council to lower the fee amount or table the legislation. Mike Long, owner of , also urged council to set the legislation aside.

Police Commissioner Jason Schiffer told council that the new fee amount does not cover the city’s costs of providing the escort, but was at the low-end of the range of fees charged by other cities that continue to provide the service. Most cities do not even provide uniformed cortege escorts, Schiffer said.

While the fees may help the city to offset certain costs associated with providing funeral escorts, including personnel and the maintenance of its small fleet of Harley Davidson motorcycles, the real aim of the legislation is to reduce the number of funerals at which officers must appear, the commissioner said.

Schiffer said he would prefer to see more officers on the street performing their core mission for the department. Council members agreed.

“It’s not a city function,” said Councilwoman Karen Dolan. “I don’t think that having a police officer at a funeral is a taxpayer expense.”