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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Crime in the city is down significantly &#8212; some 13 percent &#8212; since 2017.</p><p>That&#8217;s according to City Administrator Rick Gazenski, who made the statement at Friday&#8217;s meeting of the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association at City Hall.</p><p>Police Chief Joseph Coffay and other city department heads attended the meeting in council chambers and gave reports on the &#8220;State of the City,&#8221; fielding questions from 35 members of the association.</p><p>Gazenski said as Mayor Tony George begins his fourth year in office, he continues his initiative of &#8220;taking it to the streets,&#8221; restoring neighborhoods, removing blight and securing state and federal grant funding.</p><p>&#8220;The downtown is the heart of the city,&#8221; Gazenski said. &#8220;And blight-free neighborhoods are key to the vitality of the downtown.&#8221;</p><p>Gazenski said the city is seeing more and more people downtown working, shopping and living.</p><p><strong>Police and fire</strong></p><p>Coffay said since he took over the department, he has approved more training for his officers.</p><p>&#8220;We want to put the best-trained officers on the street,&#8221; Coffay said. &#8220;As we continue to reorganize the department, we want to be more proactive. We will always be reactive, responding to calls every day, but we want to see more community policing.&#8221;</p><p>Coffay, a former detective and captain, led the department on an interim basis for five months last year before being named chief in November.</p><p>Fire Chief Jay Delaney said his department responds to some 12,000 calls per year and response time averages between three to five minutes.</p><p>&#8220;We tell our people to treat every call like you would treat your parents,&#8221; Delaney said. &#8220;In addition to fire and EMS calls, we respond to water rescues, hazardous materials calls and we even deliver babies.&#8221;</p><p>Delaney said his department also has a naloxone program, noting that the opioid crisis affects people of all ages.</p><p>&#8220;We have administered 311 doses of naloxone,&#8221; Delaney said. &#8220;The youngest person was 15 and the oldest was 91.&#8221;</p><p>Delaney said 50 percent of the calls are heroin/fentanyl related, the other 50 percent are for prescription drug overdoses.</p><p><strong>DPW, development</strong></p><p>Butch Frati, director of operations, reported that the city has 600 streets and 15 plow trucks. He said his employees rarely call off and they work in all types of weather conditions, such as the recent freezing temperatures.</p><p>Frati said the Public Square improvement project will continue in 2019 with the completion of the new green areas and replacement of pavers to make walking better.</p><p>Henry Radulski, health department director, and Joyce Zaykowski, director of the office of economic and community development, also gave reports.</p><p><strong>TL discussion</strong></p><p>Also at the meeting, Times Leader Media Group Publisher Mike Murray asked members of the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association to cast votes for Distinctive Women of Luzerne County and the Best of Times Leader, two promotional events currently underway.</p><p>Times Leader Media Group Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kerry O&#8217;Neil Miscavage said Distinctive Women voting has started and many nominations are coming in daily through timesleader.com.</p><p>&#8220;We are looking for women in NEPA that &#8216;stand out&#8217; for their community or work efforts,&#8221; Miscavage said.</p><p>She said the voting ends Feb. 15. Learn more at <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/distinctivewomen2019#/" target="_blank">timesleader.com/distinctivewomen2019</a>.</p><p>Times Leader&#8217;s 6th Annual Reader&#8217;s Choice contest is also underway.</p><p>&#8220;We have already received thousands of entries for the &#8216;best&#8217; in services, restaurants, local retailers, local personalities and more,&#8221; Miscavage said.</p><p>Log on to timesleader.com&#8217;s homepage and start voting for your favorite local businesses. Voting also ends Feb. 15.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Times Leader Media Group Publisher Mike Murray speaks about future projects during Friday&#8217;s meeting of the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DWBBA-Feb.-Meeting-5.jpg</photo0><caption0>Times Leader Media Group Publisher Mike Murray speaks about future projects during Friday&#8217;s meeting of the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DWBBA-Feb.-Meeting-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Wilkes-Barre City Office of Economic and Community Development Director Joyce Zaykowski, left, speaks about on current and future projects as city Operations Director Butch Frati listens. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DWBBA-Feb.-Meeting-4.jpg</photo1><caption1>The Wilkes-Barre City Office of Economic and Community Development Director Joyce Zaykowski, left, speaks about on current and future projects as city Operations Director Butch Frati listens. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DWBBA-Feb.-Meeting-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney talks about his department&#8217;s role during Friday&#8217;s Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association meeting. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DWBBA-Feb.-Meeting-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney talks about his department&#8217;s role during Friday&#8217;s Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association meeting. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DWBBA-Feb.-Meeting-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">John Maday, president of the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association, opens up the group&#8217;s February meeting on Friday morning at City Hall. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DWBBA-Feb.-Meeting-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>John Maday, president of the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association, opens up the group&#8217;s February meeting on Friday morning at City Hall. </caption3><photoCredit3>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DWBBA-Feb.-Meeting-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Joe Coffay, standing, addresses the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association meeting on Friday as City Administrator Rick Gazenski listens. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DWBBA-Feb.-Meeting-3.jpg</photo4><caption4>Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Joe Coffay, standing, addresses the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association meeting on Friday as City Administrator Rick Gazenski listens. </caption4><photoCredit4>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

WB crime down, Gazenski tells biz group