Community Reacts To Phila. Police Commissioner Ramsey's Retirement
By Rahel Solomon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- People across Philadelphia spoke with CBS 3 as news of Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey's retirement made its way around town.
In South Philadelphia, some were disappointed and said Ramsey made officers seem more approachable.
"Getting people to have a better feel for the cops instead of just looking at look at them as robots," said Dawud Bey of Point Breeze.
In North Philadelphia just off Broad Street, reactions were mixed.
"He had his way where he was going to put a stop to stuff, if he retires that's never going to take place," said Carrie Lovett of Frankford.
"They aren't doing nothing about the murders, all he doing is worrying about who's out here on the corner," said Ivan Abdullah of Northeast Philadelphia.
With 47 years of law enforcement experience, Ramsey came out of retirement to serve as Philadelphia's top cop. He's been here for nearly eight years. One of his popular initiatives included foot patrols for officers.
"So that you know you can touch them, you can feel them, you can talk to them, it made them more realistic to the people, it made them more human," said Bey.
Twitter today was also abuzz with reactions.
"I think it's bad news for Philly," said Marguerite Hawkins of Society Hill.
Familiar with Ramsey from his Washington, D.C. days and now Philadelphia, Hawkins says his leadership was felt.
"I've been here like 12 or 13 years now, and compared to when I first moved to Philadelphia, yeah there's been a huge improvement," said Hawkins.
Now after so many years in law enforcement the question some are left with -- what's next for Ramsey? And what's next for the City of Philadelphia?
There has been some speculation that Ramsey may move into some sort of national position.
In his comments today, Commissioner Ramsey said of his career it's been a good ride and he's been blessed.
He's expected to go into retirement in January.
