James Milton Yeakel was an American politician who served as mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for eight years between 1922 and 1930.

[1] However, Mayor Yeakel is most infamously for his inaction as Bethlehem became known as a resort town for New Yorkers to come and commit various vices that where illegal at the time due to Prohibition.

[5] On November 12, 1927, officer Charles Fenton was shot and killed attempting to apprehend a robbery suspect from one of the south side's 35 brothels.

[6] Mayor Yeakel seemed disinterested at best with the growing issue of crime and violence in the city's south side.

This would result in his defeat in the primaries during his re-election campaign in 1930 to Robert Pfeifle who ran on a tough on crime platform.