Well kids, here we are again. Taking the traditional dog-and-pony show to new heights, Mayor Street and Commissioner Sylvester Johnson joined a cadre of pols in Southwest Philly yesterday afternoon to run through a roll call of 80 police officers in a shopping center parking lot.

Street (pictured left in his official battle gear, while posing with two fans) announced a quasi-revival of his beloved Operation Safe Streets. The 80 cops who were present at yesterday's roll-call will be detailed into Southwest's notoriously violent 12th District, with the obvious aim of quelling the bloodshed.

“During my Administration we have made unprecedented investments in public safety and during the past seven years serious crime has declined almost 16 percent,” Street said, according to a press release e-mailed to reporters.

“However, the recent rise in homicides and gun violence threatens our progress and we are determined to reduce it. This Administration will fight every second that I am Mayor to make our streets safe for our children and families. It’s our job.”

According to Daily News reporter Tom Schmidt, Street was hailed as a genius and Johnson was praised as being the greatest police commissioner in human history. (No, seriously. Someone actually said that. Out loud. In public.)

A couple things struck me as funny and odd. The first: Street basically solemnly vowed to protect children and other citizens ... for a couple of months. Keep on rolling out those bold declarations, Mista Mayor!

Second: the plan to swarm the 12th District with extra cops is not a new one. Over the summer, members of the police department's SITE unit were detailed in for about two weeks and drastically cut down on the number of murders, shootings, robberies and even petty nuisance crimes. Then they were promptly detailed elsewhere.

And in attempt to address 2006's summer homicide crises, Johnson briefly shuffled his deck, moving a handful of cops from Crime Scene and other units into the 12th on foot patrol duty for about 90 days. Then they went back to their regular duties.

My point: don't let yesterday's parking lot theatrics fool you. This is an old idea being dusted off and reheated for the third time. Sure, there are some new wrinkles -- Street said L&I and other agencies will help clean abadon lots and seal vacant properties. But if the mayor really wants residents to roll up their sleeves and buy into his plan -- “The people who live in this community know where the problems are and they know who has the guns,” he said -- he needs to do more than offer them a retread of a temporary band-aid.