Jacob Mott, creator of a group of current and former residents of Bradford, is planning to present a petition to Bradford City Council at Tuesday’s 7 p.m. meeting, calling for the firing of Police Chief Hiel Bartlett.
A release distributed by a group calling themselves “Fire Chief Bartlett” indicated they will be supporting Mott at the council meeting. Because of virus precautions, there are a limited number of people able to attend the meetings in person.
“Normal capacity for city council chambers is 45 however due to COVID-19 concerns we will maintain guidelines of restricting capacity to approximately 50%,” said city administrator Chris Lucco. “With that said there are 5 members of council, the solicitor, city administrator, 4 department heads and the administrative assistant and up to two press representatives. This will leave room for 12-15 people in the meeting room. Masks will be required.”
Lucco said attempts will be made to accommodate people who want to address the councilmen.
“If more visitors than that attend, they will be able to stand in the hallways six feet between or outside of the building. If there are people who wish to speak to council but unable to fit in the room we will rotate visitors in and out of the meeting to allow them time to address council,” the administrator said.
He added that council meetings are streamed online on YouTube at City of Bradford — Meetings.
The release sent out by the group explained who the signers of the petition have been.
“The petition has over 1,500 signatures of current and former residents of Bradford, Pitt-Bradford students, and residents of the townships and nearby towns,” the group stated. “This petition is evidence of the deep dissatisfaction with the choice of Bartlett as police chief, and the widespread desire to see him terminated and replaced with someone who is professional and trusted by the entire community.”
The release indicated the group intends to ask city council for a hearing, “where our neighbors who have had bad experiences with Bartlett and the police department can testify. While we recognize the importance of the work our local police do, we also know that Bartlett is just one part of a larger problem. Those who attribute police brutality to a ‘few bad apples’ forget the rest of the adage, ‘one bad apple spoils the bunch.’ As a community, we want and deserve a professional, trusted, effective police force.”
The movement against Bartlett began with a May 5 arrest of Matthew Confer in Bradford. The arrest, which was videotaped and shared on social media, appeared to show Bartlett macing Confer, who was handcuffed and inside a Bradford City Police car. The actions of Confer were not visible on the video.
Protests against Bartlett ramped up after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. Protests against police brutality began in earnest in communities across the nation, including in Bradford.
