Evans announces, calls for more cops (The Next Mayor)

At last, one of the Would-Be Mayors announces during the week. This means that we have more extensive coverage of Evans' event, including a set-up story from the Daily News' Bob Warner, the Inquirer's live coverage, and the day-after coverage of the Daily News and Inquirer.

Evans also put out his first policy paper of his candidacy. He's landed hard on crime (which remains the dominant issue of the race), and given voters 20 pages of ideas to consider.

Obviously, Evans has a lot of interconnected concept in his head about how to make the city safer. Getting them done in one or even two terms, however -- not to mention how to pay for them -- would be the problem.

I read the 20-page paper tonight to summarize it for you. Here are the highlights (if you are just curious about the "how to pay for them" points, skip to the bottom):

First of all, Evans says that the "moment he takes office" he will call for a "zero-tolerance policy for disorder." He's citing the "broken windows" theory of crime-prevention that says allowing minor infractions of the law, such as vandalism and vagrancy, create an environment for larger crimes.

There are some intriguing and practical ideas scattered through the report. One idea, on page 9 of the report, is to impose a "safety tax" on all guns and ammo sold in Philadelphia. (I have often wondered why, in the anti-gun fervor of the moment in Philadelphia, no one has suggested cracking down on ammo.) He also suggests (page 10) a joint fire-police arson squad to chase arsonists. And he proposes that, again on Day One, he would deputize every city employee to serve as the "eyes and ears" of the police, something he has dubbed the "Ben Franklin Town Watch." (OK, maybe not so practical.)

But this is: Have the city prisons aside one-fourth of all money sent to inmates in savings accounts, which the inmate can use after release to get back on his or her feet.

On the other hand, most of his ideas are much bigger and likely to be harder to achieve. He wants to hire 500 more police officers, which he estimates will cost $60 million to $100 million, paid for in part by dedicating some of the gambling revenue.

He also calls for:
*Creating "impact zones" in areas that have seen the most crimes and "flood" them with teams of cops, parole officers and probation officers. (Evans mentions North, West and Southwest Philadelphia, and the Lower Northeast, though it isn't clear that these would be "impact zones.")
*Getting more officers off restricted duty and into patrol districts, and moving plainclothes officers into uniformed patrol to increase visibility.
*Integrating other police forces in the city into the PPD's dispatch system. That includes Philadelphia Housing Authority police and SEPTA police (though it's not clear if university police would be included; Temple's force is said to be the state's fourth-largest).
*Requiring tracing of any gun recovered from a juvenile (now, that happens only for murders and other significant crimes).
*Requiring criminals with histories of gun crimes to register with the state.
*Continuing to insist on the right of the city to have its own gun laws.

And those aren't even Evans' long-term plans for violence reduction. Those plans are more like a complete rebuilding of the city's police force. Evans says he wants to:
*Upgrade cops' technology and facilities, and incent them to live in the neighborhoods they serve with low-interest mortgages.
*Survey police performance yearly, from the community's point of view and that of city agencies.
*Raise recruiting standards for police officers, including requiring a two-year college degree, and recruit from the military (by paying them more).
*Unite with federal authorities to make gun control a priority, and install gunshot-tracing cameras in high-crime areas.
*Use "stay-away" orders to deter gun criminals from returning to their neighborhoods.

He also talks (jump to page 13) about involving the community to reduce violence, with a strong focus on improving the re-entry of ex-offenders into neighborhoods, as in the prison-money idea above. (People with criminal records find their employment options extremely limited, and have trouble finding housing -- add to that drug problems or the lure of crime as a way to get by, and you have a recipe for recidivism.) And he wants more available drug treatment, which would also help re-entry.

In the courts, he says he'd find a way to fund the $1 million witness-protection fund that DA Lynne Abraham has proposed. And he says he would increase jail space and parole staff.

In the schools, he would begin an annual and comprehensive assessment of the safety of our schools, and assign Philadelphia police to each high school. He would borrow the "Peaceable Schools" model to try to reduce conflicts that often escalate into crimes. And he would contact parents after every student absence.

Evans says he wants to make real the citywide, anti-violence "think tank" put forth in his "Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia," a 10-year plan with the optimistic goal of eliminating all youth homicide in Philadelphia by 2016.

And he wants to better integrate the city's trade unions.

How to pay for all this?

He'd install a performance review board on his first day on the job (which would really be a busy one); sounds like he's aiming for a 5 percent reduction of city spending, or $170 million annually. He specifically mentions saving money through more efficient purchasing, cuts in the City Representative's office, more efficient city permitting and cuts of $500,000 from the mayor's office. He'd take a portion of the estimated $25 million that the city could get from gambling and use it to pay for cops. And he'd ask for more money from Harrisburg.

Then there's this, on page 18: "In FY 2007, the City plans to generate $8 million in Luxury Box Rental Fees – but this is a fee that the City in fact has consistently failed to collect." Wha?

Still, he doesn't say clearly if these cuts are nearly enough to pay for his ambitious ideas.

(edited to add by Dan P.) If you missed Dwight Evans when he was on Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane (and you happen to have Real Audio), you can click here to listen to the show. Evans and Penn criminologist Larry Sherman discuss proposals to deal with violent crime.

Comments (2)

citizenthomas

It is evident that Mr. Evans has done a lot for the state of Pennsylvania and his district. I did not attend the speech but I hope that Mr. Evans addressed the pay to pay culture that exists in this city as a part of his platform. Every Philadelphian as well as every American should see Tigre Hill"s The Shame Of A City. Crime is a hot issue in this town and should be a priority but the rampant corruption among our politicans is another crime issue that should be addressed by any candidate for Mayor. So far only Mr. Nutter has addressed this issue straight on.

Posted by citizenthomas | December 12, 2006 12:37 PM

Wendy

Dave: It's clear that the "How to pay for this" part of his plan is lacking. In fact, getting even one or two of these big ideas past city council and the city bureaucracy into action would be a Very Big Deal. The ideas seem to be his biggest, the ones that have been cooking for a long time in public service. Now, we'll be looking for the practical portion of his candidacy...

Posted by Wendy | December 12, 2006 11:32 PM

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