Citizen blogger Peak Johnson joined Great Expectations at the May 14 neighborhood forum to talk about city services. He writes:
After arriving at the Inquirer/Daily News building, I sat down quietly waiting for the forum to get under way. (Though before sitting, I had to grab some of the food that was available. My favorite at every Great Expectations event: lasagna and meatballs.) After the schedule was broken down of how things were going to go, we were able to disperse into our small discussion groups.
The group that seemed appropriate for me was Public Safety. When picking this, it had dawned on me that it really is time for Philadelphians to stop being afraid and to start feeling safe again. We have to stop being negative all the time and start believing in the positive to help change the city that we are living in. However, when listening to the discussions within the group, it became clear to me that I was out of touch with what was going on in Philly. (Give me a break; I just finished high school not too long ago.)
It seemed that one of the biggest concerns of this group was trying to find a way to build better connections with Philadelphia Police and to actually being able to talk to them. I had offered the success with my community as an example. Because there are so many great programs and opportunities being put back into my community, we have a good relationship with some of the officers of the 23rd District, who sometime drive around to make sure things are ok. In addition, there is an annual dinner out together at the Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology where we invite most of the officers to thank them for all that they do.
Another point that was brought up in our discussion was that city officials should just stop ignoring the facts and stop releasing criminals early. A perfect example being the case in which the officer was unfortunately shot a few weeks ago.
Despite this, it does seem that Mayor Michael Nutter and new Police Chief Charles Ramsey are on their way to reducing crime in Philadelphia. I didn’t know that he was planning on putting 250 officers by this year on the streets of Philadelphia and another 250 by the end of 2009. Though I wonder if increasing police on the streets will have some kind of consequence: will it lead to more violence or a feeling of just knowing that you are being protected?
The Public Safety group had been the best group yet for me because the members were so informative. (I also attended the Citizens Convention in December and the neighborhood forums that followed.) One thing about being part of Great Expectations is that you meet a lot of great people who don’t mind speeding you up on things. One person in particular who was just great and knew his facts about Philly was a guy named Jack. He reminded me of my English/American history teacher in high school. Very informative and very polite. The moderator, Ms. Erika, also did an excellent job. She gave us the freedom to move freely around a bit with our discussions, which I felt allowed us to learn more about what is going on around our great city.
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