As Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey explained his sweeping reorganization of the Police Department to the media last week, an odd couple stood shoulder to shoulder behind him: Fraternal Order of Police president John McNesby and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison.
McNesby was livid in January, when Nutter named Gillison - a lifelong public defender - his public safety czar. The biggest FOP objection to Gillison's resumé was his representation in 2006 of Solomon Montgomery, who was convicted of killing Police Officer Gary Skerski.
McNesby publicly condemned Gillison's appointment in a letter. Later, when McNesby discovered that he and Gillison were booked to appear on the same panel at a Temple Law School forum on gun violence, he refused to share the stage with the deputy mayor and walked out on the event.
"That's old news," McNesby said last week, when asked about his feud with Gillison. "We made our point on that and moved forward. We're professionals, we do what's right for the city."
Gillison turned the other cheek when McNesby objected to his appointment. In remarks he made to a reporter before Ramsey's news conference, Gillison said he thought he was making progress on winning the police over.
He was right about that.
It's worth noting that all this happened before Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was shot and killed by a bank robber on Saturday.
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