Michael Nutter's appointment of Chuck Ramsey to head the Philadelphia police department is a good example of how life imitates baseball.
First, there is the pattern of nice guy-tough guy that regularly happens in rotating baseball managers. The Phils go from Larry Bowa (one tough S.O.B.) to Charlie Manuel (sweet guy.)
Second, there is the pattern of insider-outsider. The decision clubs must always make in awarding the manager's job to someone from within the organization or someone from the outside. Manuel is from the outside. Bowa was home-grown talent.
So, we had John Timoney (outsider, tough guy) replaced by Sylvester Johnson (insider, nice guy) replaced by Chuck Ramsay, the outsider. Whether he's a tough guy or a nice guy is too early to say, but I am betting he will shake things up in the department.
Ramsey is also good at public relations (too good, in the eyes of some of his detractors). PR wasn't Johnson's strong point. Reporters gave him the nickname "Mumbles" after the Dick Tracy character noted for saying a lot, but not in any way that could be understood.
What will help Ramsey in Philadelphia is that he is a cop. There's a saying among cops that there is no black and white on the police force. There is only blue. Ramsey has spent his adult life wearing blue, but it certainly helps that he is an African-American. This is a majority minority city and the department is about to embark on a potentially touchy campaign -- both literally and metaphorically -- of stop-and-frisk.
-- Tom Ferrick Jr.
Comments (2)
Sylvester seemed like he had no faith in the press to convey his message whatsoever. I also heard a LOT of criticism from the department of Johnson during his tenure. This was from all creeds and persuasions.
Yet even some journalists, like Elmer Smith, try to say that Ramsey and Johnson are more similar than different. Only if you see their skin as their primary identity.
Ramsey got measurable results in DC. Johnson seemed on the one hand to be afraid of measurable results, and when he got them, it was the Captains who conveyed it to the community.
Johnson became fixated on saying "we can't arrest our way out of this problem" without specifying what he felt the best course of action was.
That seemed odd to me. After spending days with Street, Johnson seemed to lose his verve, his drive, his focus, his specific ideas.
Was he "nice?" Did Johnson try to please everyone? Not really, because he advocated measures that were unproven such as 10,000 men while underplaying or even ignoring the basics of law enforcement.
Johnson seemed to choose to go along with Street's policy of open-air drug markets in selected areas to confine the activity without cluttering up the jails.
Johnson never once felt he could criticize Street, even any constructive criticism. "Other cities are doing this, I've talked to the mayor, and he wants more information." Anything but, "we can't arrest our way out of this problem." Police are in the business of making arrests of however many criminals are committing crimes, not in saying, oops, jail's full. Gotta have a moratorium on arrests now.
It was never Johnson's role to discuss education policy, social services policy and implementation, or the need for Head Start, or the national incarceration rate of black males.
Johnson would, however, take this on before answering any questions about crime, criminals, and how the police were upgrading and improving response.
So it was surreal.
It's also surreal to hear journalists ignore the approaches of the two men. This is the sort of blind spot that Johnson and Street had.
Johnson saw the top Philly cop position as a kind of armchair sociologist. Street saw himself as more of a preacher.
Thankfully we now have two men in the jobs who are what the job is: administrators par excellence.
Posted by Anonymous | November 21, 2007 11:00 AM
Posted on November 21, 2007 11:00
If I was a dealer, I'd want a politician and police commissioner who are passionate about doing every other job but their own.
Sturm und drang. Heat and Noise. Signifying nothing.
Posted by Anonymous | November 21, 2007 11:04 AM
Posted on November 21, 2007 11:04