Nutter Looks Back, And Forward, At Philadelphia's Crime Fighting Efforts
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Mayor Nutter today unveiled a five-year crimefighting strategy that includes closer ties between police and the community.
While looking ahead, the mayor also checked the rearview mirror, looking at midyear crime statistics comparing 2011 to the previous four years.
He notes that when he took office in 2008, bringing police commissioner Charles Ramsey on board from DC, there were 6,638 officers in the department and they planned to hire 400 more over two years.
But the recession hit, and two police academy classes were canceled. Now, there are 200 fewer officers.
"We poured uniformed police resources into the police districts with the most crime, and we assigned more officers to work during peak crime periods," he recalls.
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The chart behind Mayor Nutter showed "part one" crimes down nine percent and "part one" violent crimes -- including murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault -- down nearly 16 percent over the past five years.
Police commissioner Charles Ramsey says his back-to-basics strategy centers on having his officers and residents getting to know, trust, and rely on one another.
"A goal that we have is continuing to develop and improve our neighborhood policing model," he said today.
The police department has set up 64 "police service areas," (PSAs) in the 21 police districts. Each is headed up by a lieutenant, a sergeant, and officers who get to know their specific neighborhoods.
Reported by Steve Tawa, KYW Newsradio 1060
