COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON:  MATT TINCANI

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What Residents Can Do:

• The Police NEED residents to make calls and report activity – neighbors aren’t expect to stop crimes, but they need to report them
• Neighbors, when reporting, should always give as a good a description of the perpetrator as possible, especially DIRECTION AND APPEARANCE.
• If someone breaks into your house, don’t clean up the glass – wait for police to arrive so they can dust for prints.
• Do not leave laptops and GPS devices in cars.
  • Do not leave rear/deck windows and doors unlocked, especially if there is construction nearby with scaffolding.
  • This neighborhood may have become wealthier but it is still dangerous.
• Always call 911 - even if nothing can be done immediately, or a crime may not be solved or solvable, reporting issues can help cops track crime activity and therefore know where to dispatch squad cars in the neighborhood.

17th Police District Contacts:

• Lt. Jamill Taylor, #343, PSA 1 Lieutenant – (215) 686-3170
• Sgt. Ezekiel J. Williams, #423, PSA 1 Tactical Supervisor – (215) 685-1748, tactsup17@17thppd.org

Police Service Areas:

• Police Districts have been divided into multiple POLICE SERVICE AREAS (PSAs)
• PSAs are part of larger city-wide strategy to create Public Service Areas to allow departments to work together to tackle neighborhood issues with a multi-pronged approach
• In each PSA, there is a chain of command – i.e. a commanding Lieutenant, a sgt, and a corps of officers
• Officers are not allowed to leave the PSA to which they are assigned unless there is an emergency (i.e. officer down)
• This has been set up so the Police Department can be “held accountable” for the well-being of specific areas, and to better work with community leaders.

PSA 1 Boundaries:

• PSA 1 is bounded by: Lombard Street, Broad Street, Federal Street, and Grays Ferry Avenue

Crime Trends in PSA 1 - From January 2010:

• BURGLARIES:
  • The 1900 Blocks of Christian, Kimball, Webster and Carpenter have all been hit by break-ins.
  • Criminals are using scaffolding and other means to access rear decks and yards, where tenants have left windows and doors unlocked.
  • Example: A group of 6 roommates had a party and at around 10 PM they decided to walk one of their friends home. When the returned an hour or so later, someone had stolen their laptops. 
  • Most burglaries are occurring at night.
• THEFT FROM AUTO:
  • Several arrests have been made recently, and criminals have ranged from 13 year old boys to a 53 year old lady.
  • People have been leaving laptops and GPS devices in their cars, making them targets.
• ROBBERIES:
  • There have been a rash of robberies during the day and at night.
  • One posse is made up of 5 boys and 1 girl – this girls is the key to identifying the entire group

What Residents Can Do:

• The Police NEED residents to make calls and report activity – neighbors aren’t expect to stop crimes, but they need to report them
• Neighbors, when reporting, should always give as a good a description of the perpetrator as possible, especially DIRECTION AND APPEARANCE.
• If someone breaks into your house, don’t clean up the glass – wait for police to arrive so they can dust for prints.
• Do not leave laptops and GPS devices in cars.
  • Do not leave rear/deck windows and doors unlocked, especially if there is construction nearby with scaffolding.
  • This neighborhood may have become wealthier but it is still dangerous.

Audience Questions:

• Please pay attention to the smaller streets and blocks in this PSA – crimes are not going to be committed on Christian, on Ellsworth, on Federal – rather on Webster, St. Albans etc.
• There is a known dealer who lives on the 2200 block of St. Albans who has been arrested many times, but he keeps coming back – what is the deal?
  • The police know about this criminal and keep tabs on him regularly.
  • However, there are limits as to how long they can detain this criminal, but a lot of times it has to do with wily defense attorneys.
  • 2020 Team: The city is expanding this PSA concept to eventually create PUBLIC SERVICE AREAS, and this problem needs to be addressed maybe by other departments. Public Service Areas will increase cooperation between departments and to keep following up on this issue at monthly PSA meetings.
• What is the relationship with the PHA police?
  • PPD and PHA PD do share information somewhat, but Philly Police respond to crimes at PHA homes, but they do not know if a home is a PHA home. Therefore they do not feed this information to PHA PD. 
• What can citizens know about the makeup (number, assignments) of officers in 17 PD PSA 1?
  • The police cannot give out statistics on numbers of officers.
  • Most are uniformed, though there are also two plainclothes teams. 
  • There is always a ranking lieutenant on duty on each of the three shifts throughout the day.
  • There is a bike cop in this PSA as well, though that officer is currently patrolling another neighborhood.
• How do neighbors create a block that deters crime and indicates to potential criminals that this block is a safe harbor for them?
  • The city needs to have better coordination and cooperation between departments.
  • Install dummy cameras with fake Police stickers.
  • Keep the block clean.
• Can mug shots and police alerts be distributed via email again?
  • Mug shots can be found on the 17 police district website.(www.17thppd.org)
  • Reverse 911 system was in place but it was alarming people.
  • Use the blog on the 17th website to track crimes
  • One can also add an email to the automatic notification list on the 17 PD website
• What is the ordinance against loitering?
  • Loitering illegally means as a group blocking the sidewalk or making it impassable.
  • However, loiterers cannot be held long because it is only a summary citation.
  • Violators are normally held in police district HQ until the end of the shift and then they are released – Curfew centers have been shut down, so there is no where for these nuisance offenders to go.

Captain Washington Addresses Southwest Center City Residents

On Wednesday, November 12, Captain Anthony Washington from the PPD’s 17th District addressed Southwest Center City residents about crime and safety issues at SOSNA’s monthly general meeting. Captain Washington spoke about POLICE SERVICE AREAS (PSAs), a new initiative to place more foot officers on the street in our district. He also previewed the city’s new and exciting technology initiatives to deter crime and keep residents informed of recent criminal activity.
There has been a recent rash of auto break-ins in our area, particularly in the vicinity of 19th and Carpenter Streets. To prevent break-ins, be sure to remove all of the valuables from your car, including purses and GPS units. 
As always, please call 911 if you witness suspicious activity or crimes in progress.  For more information on the 17th Police District, visit http://www.ppdonline.org/hq_profile_ds17.php.

What we do:

• Attend monthly Community Relations meetings held at the 17th Police District (usually held at 5:30pm on the 2nd Tuesday of each month) @ 20th and Federal Streets.
• Publish regular neighborhood crime reports (click here for the latest) as well as any crime bulletins.
• Participate in & liaise with community town watch groups, such as SoSo Town Watch.
• Organize community meetings with police and city agencies for safety related issues.

USEFUL LINKS:

City of Philadelphia
Philadelphia Police Department (PPD)
Public Nuisance Task Force (PNTF)
NBC10's 2007 Safer City Map
Philadelphia Inquirer crime maps
Philadelphia NIS Crimebase