I e-mailed Councilman Jeremy Melber who is the chair of the police committee and asked him about Det. Schatz.

Melber wrote that Det. Schatz has been with the Jim Thorpe Police Department since 1996 and has been a detective for the past nine years. He has received several letters of recognition for his work with the police department as well as for his work with the school-based DARE program.  Det. Schatz has also participated with the Drug Task Force. He is married with three children and lives in Lehighton.

Commentary: The Times-News has to start writing more informative stories. Who is Joseph Schatz? I searched his name on my favorite search engine and found Times-News articles identifying him as a Detective on the Jim Thorpe Police Department. So, the article in the Times-News should have identified Mr. Schatz as Jim Thorpe Police Detective Joseph Schatz. Complete identification of people is basic journalism.

Commentary #2: No where in the article is there any background on Mr. Schatz. I’ve no reason to question the Borough Council’s nomination. I trust them to make good decisions. But in an article that is supposed to be about the man who is nominated, there is zero information about him! How long has he been a detective? How long has he worked for the Jim Thorpe Police Department? Where does he live? Where did he go to school?

I’d love to know more about Detective Schatz since he will be protecting my family and leading our police force.

Maybe I’ll ask some basic questions next time I see one of the borough councilmen. I’ll post what I find out here.