June 29, 2006
S.I.T.E. is Alright
Crime, as you may have heard, is somewhat out of control on the streets of Philadelphia. Though the rains have calmed things down a bit this week, the city still experiences a homicide on an almost daily basis.
So with Operation Safer Streets having failed to put a dent in our gaudy murder numbers, Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson created a new plan and a new unit to fight crime -- minus any silly sounding mayoral code names.
The commish formally launched the new team -- The Strategic Intervention Tactical Enforcement unit -- at the Police Academy Tuesday night. Two dozen shiny white cruisers rolled out of the Academy around 8:30 p.m. with their lights flashing as Johnson and other cops stayed behind to talk up the new guys.
Johnson said 184 cops applied to be a part of the unit, but only 46 were picked. "We have people who are committed to working to make the city safer," Johnson said.
The top cop said earlier in the month that he realized a majority of the city's homicides occurred between midnight and 6 a.m. The new unit, then, will work from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., moving throughout the city to stop retaliatory violence from occurring in neighborhoods where homicides usually happen in pairs.
"They'll get out there and stop what [we know] is going to happen," said Lt. James Dambach, SITE's commander. Philly Confidential followed dozens of SITE members as they toured through parts of North Philly and Strawberry Mansion and seemingly found trouble everywhere.
"We've been out here for an hour and we've already had a couple of arrests," said one officer, while working at the scene of a domestic dispute that ended with a 55-year-old man getting stabbed in the head around 9:30 p.m.
"I'm aight, I'm aight," said the man, though his face and his white t-shirt were covered in blood. His condition changed on the fly when he got a few feet away from a Daily News photographer. The man groaned, wobbled and then collapsed on the pavement.
Medics quickly hoisted him onto a gurney. "Man," one SITE cop said, "it's going to be a l-o-n-g night out here."
Kudos to the commish for trying out something new. The SITE guys are going to have one busy summer.
Its the same old public relations crap,make a new unit and give the public smoke and mirrors.As a retired 369 I have to steal a quote from a retiring 40 year vet who said that he saw many commissioners in his time and they all were going to make change but the only change he saw was the color of the police cars from black to red,blue and white.Mike
Posted by: mike at July 2, 2006 08:27 AMAm I simply engaging in some nostalgia for a bygone era when I think that a cop on the beat might be a good idea? Why don't cops patrol on foot in a specific neighborhood where they get to know everybody and build trust between the police force and the citizenry? In the most walkable city in America why don't we do this?
Posted by: anne at July 9, 2006 02:56 PMI was driving around the South Street area on Saturday night and found a pair of cops on nearly every corner. I'm not sure if the same could be said for South Philly or Strawberry Mansion; I think we need more cops!
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