Jim Thorpe Borough police are asking its council to consider a disorderly conduct ordinance that would allow certain offenders to be cited without it going on their permanent record.

Chief Joe Schatz said last week that as it stands now, police cite all disorderly conduct under the state statute, which stays with the person even if they have impeccable behavior from that point forward.A borough ordinance would give the option for police to still cite someone under the state statute if they are a repeat of serious offender, or cite someone under the ordinance, which would forgo the long term effect."Lots of people make mistakes and they are still good people," Schatz said. "We have to cite them to set an example, but it's not proper in all cases to have to (cite) someone and have it follow them. With this, the person gets a slap on the wrist, but their record would not reflect that in the future."Schatz said when he started as police chief, the borough had such an ordinance on the books, but at some point it was removed.The city of Bethlehem has a disorderly conduct ordinance with penalties ranging from $100 for a first offense and $300 for a second offense to a short period of imprisonment.An disorderly conduct ordinance for Columbia Borough, in Lancaster County, states anyone in violation is subject to a $300 fine.The discussion in Jim Thorpe, however, is in its infancy."The borough would have to set its own fines and define what would constitute disorderly conduct," Schatz said. "A lot of attorneys ask us if we have this on the books. I think it's something that should be considered because it doesn't prohibit us from citing under the state statute. It just gives us another option."