Cops Chat about Crime

The lady-half of Philly Confidential spent this weekend answering questions. In restaurants to the hair salon, everyone who knew PC’s true identity asked the million-dollar conundrum —what is the city doing about the escalated murder rate?

PC told folks to read Friday’s Daily News and learn what the politicos are saying about the commissioner’s job security in the midst of this bloody summer.
“But what are the cops saying?” asked one recent college graduate while eating a banana split Friday night outside Franklin Fountain on Market Street. ( By the way, the ice cream there is stupendous.)

PC realized the department’s rank and file -- the men and women who are really out on the streets searching for thugs -- are usually left voiceless in the mainstream media’s crime coverage. Of course, it would be career suicide for a police officer/official to go on the record to speak his/her mind about their boss’ legacy.

[Cue the violins.]

If only there was a medium for cops to vent their true feelings to the news-reading public about crime, the department, and how they would change things. Imagine a cyber-place where reporters could interview officers, promise some sort of anonymity while avoiding that ubiquitous term many cops loathe… “police source said.”
Wait.
There is.
Yay for Philly Confidential.

Read what three cops had to say after the jump.

- On Commissioner Sylvester Johnson:

“It is time for him to go,” said one officer in his 20’s.
“He said we need more police officers on the street. He said we need less specialized units. Then he invents this [new] unit.”

The officer was referring to the Strategic Intervention Tactical Enforcement Mobile Unit [SITE], a 46-member unit that reports directly to the commish. Cops in this unit are considered the crème de la crème of the department and are late night crime fighters.
Meanwhile, officers have said that they felt the unit was a copycat of Highway Patrol—those cops we see in knee-length boots driving around hyper-violent neighborhoods and/or racing to bloody crime scenes.

Other cops praised their top boss.
“He is not a bad leader,” said another officer in his 30’s.
“His hands are tied. People are turning into animals.”
“Johnson on a whole is a decent guy. Everything comes down to money. We don’t have enough cops. There are 9,000 people [crammed] into city prisons.”

- On the Philly judicial system:

A cop with several years under his belt, said the public should stop pointing the finger solely at the PPD and start studying the flaws of the local criminal justice system.

“The D.A. and the police department are doing their jobs. The system is not keeping them… You got good cops completely handicapped by the system…Judges have to be held more accountable. It is ridiculous. Judges are too lenient.”

This officer was echoing the thoughts of one of higher-ups, chief of detectives Joe Fox.
Fox recently wrote a letter to the Daily News critiquing city judges, writing that they are “nowhere to be seen” when it comes to fighting on gun violence.

- On the media:

The cop in his 30’s said some local stories “are nothing until the media makes a big deal out of it… You blast someone for making one comment.”

-- On how to change things:

The 30-something officer said he thinks the city needs “stricter gun laws” and needs to put plainclothes cops back on the street. I
n May, the department required all patrol cops to start wearing their uniforms to work, citing the need of a stronger police presence. That decision pissed off a lot of cops. Earlier this month, the commissioner announced that the department was switching the schedule of dozens of cops from days to nights
“What does that say to the police?” said the officer.
“Bust your ass, then we will switch your hours and days off…we are not being proactive, we are being reactive.”

The cop, with several years on deck, said the city doesn’t need tougher gun laws, rather it needs to keep the gun-toting thugs behind bars.

“Build more prisons…Instead of letting us be proactive cops, we are reacting to what the community is doing…We should be allowed to enforce more loitering laws…We have to go back to strong-arm tactics, like the Rizzo days, to win the city back.”

Posted by simone at July 31, 2006 12:29 PM