This afternoon, Nutter had a closed-door meeting with NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. Kelly said the two spoke about crime mapping, surveillance cameras and "stop, question and frisk," the controversial tactic, used in NYC, that Nutter backed in the primary.
"I think it is a useful tactic; it has been useful in removing guns," Kelly said.
Nutter praised the New York cops for a "relentless pursuit to drop [crime] numbers down." New York's homicide rate is running about 3.24 per 100,000 people, while Philly's is over 17 per 100,000 people.
"I think they are constantly innovating, constantly doing things differently," Nutter said.
And, he said, it was "encouraging" to talk to a department that had actually deployed the plan that he got so much heat for in the spring. (It probably was also encouraging to talk to police that had managed to lower those violent crime numbers.)
"It's one thing to talk to criminologists, but to talk to a real live person who is actually doing it ..." Nutter said. He added, of Kelly, "I think he knows what he's talking about."