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07-28-2006, 05:47 AM
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Police Department Leadership (or lack of it)
I strongly urge you to contact the Mayor and City Council to demand new leadership in our ineffective and lackluster police department: http://www.hallwatch.org/faxbank/philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Police Department needs to stop making lame excuses and operating reactively. Philadelphia needs a coherent, aggressive, and proactive law enforcement strategy. New leadership, fresh ideas, and a complete reorganization and restructuring of the Philadelphia Police Department are necessary to improve public safety: http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/...l/15142033.htm Jill Porter | Bulletproof or not, 'it's time for Sylvester Johnson to go' POLICE COMMISSIONER Sylvester Johnson's job is secure. So says a story by Mark McDonald in the paper today. Which leads to the next question: Should it be? No, Johnson is not responsible for the soaring homicide rate. In a big city, those numbers are subject to erratic fluctuation that sometimes resists explanation and blame. Johnson may not be able to stop all the random shootings and killings - as he's fond of repeating every chance he gets. But the one thing Johnson can do is provide inspirational leadership in a time of crisis. And I believe he's been a miserable failure at that. As the public face of the department, the commissioner should be projecting a vigorous, energetic, confident attitude, as well as articulating a battle plan to solve the problem. "Part of this stuff is putting your chest out with a can-do attitude," as one former police commander said. Instead, we see a defensive, weary, admittedly frustrated man who seems, the commander said, to "have his shoulders hunched." I'm tired of hearing Johnson delineate what police can't do. I'm tired of having a police commissioner who talks more about social problems than law-enforcement solutions. I'm tired of the department pursuing one initiative after the other, which seems reactive rather than proactive, while the slaughter continues unabated. "It seems as if the policies of the Police Department change depending on which way the wind blows," said Councilman Frank Rizzo. "We seem to change our strategy - Operation Safe Streets, Operation Safer Streets, Operation This Street. If you figure all the money we've spent, this place should be like the Vatican." Instead, it's like the OK Corral. It's time for Sylvester Johnson to go. I certainly understand that Johnson has many admirers and supporters. And with good reason. He's a "cop's cop" and a great guy who's accomplished what once seemed impossible: He bridged the gap between the Police Department and the community and created detente with the police union. He's forged unprecedented relationships with grass-roots leaders. He is literally out there on the corners with them on a regular basis, confronting drug dealers, supporting neighborhood efforts. He's at community meetings night after night, handing out his phone number, making himself accessible, "feeling their pain," as one person put it. And his mantra - that police can't solve the crime problem alone - is the truth. Virtually everyone agrees that he's a nice, decent, compassionate man who's honest, hard-working and well-meaning. In normal times, he would be an acceptable - perhaps even an admirable - leader. But make no mistake. There are cops and former cops, public officials and former public officials who think, as I do - though they refuse to say so on the record - that it's time for him to go. They say he hasn't adapted to a smaller police force by restructuring and redeploying personnel - reducing special details, for instance, and eliminating administrative jobs - to get the most street presence he can. They say he's failed to devise a comprehensive strategy to deal with soaring gun crimes, and is "out of ideas." They say he is too nice to make tough decisions. They say he's too compliant and "[Mayor John] Street is running the show." And they agree that his public profile has been defeatist and defensive. "I don't believe that law enforcement is ever going to change the quality of life," Johnson told the Inquirer last week. That's hardly the bold, aggressive message I want to hear from the man in charge of public safety in my town. Not to mention that there are whole neighborhoods in this city whose residents don't seem to trust the Police Department to keep them safe. They apparently don't believe police can protect them from the ruthless druglords who rule their streets; they refuse to cooperate when they witness a shooting or a murder. That can hardly be considered a vote of confidence in Johnson. Sure, Johnson is hamstrung in his efforts to battle crime - by inadequate numbers of police, by an archaic department structure, by needing to answer to a mayor and managing director who have their own ideas. And, yes, guns are an unbelievable problem here. Shooting someone has become the resolution of first resort for far too many people. But if the police commissioner can't rally the citizens with a bold, can-do message, inspiring confidence that the problem can and will be solved, then we risk being overtaken by the crisis. "If the city gets a reputation as being unsafe, we're through," said Philadelphia magazine editor Larry Platt, who also called for Johnson to step down in his magazine column. "Say goodbye to the restaurant boom. Say goodbye to the condo boom." It may be wishful thinking in the waning days of an administration to urge a change in leadership in the Police Department. Who would want the job? But it needs to be said, no matter how nice a man Sylvester Johnson is: It's time for invigorated leadership, new vision, new energy. It's time for him to go. Last edited by niksiz : 07-28-2006 at 05:58 AM. 
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07-28-2006, 08:22 AM
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He'll go when Street has decided he needs a new excuse for HIS lack of leadership on this issue, not Johnson's. Johnson did ask for 500 police officers over the next 5 years and was summarily turned down.
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07-28-2006, 10:33 AM
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It's ironic to hear these calls for Sylvester Johnson's dismissal. Don't forget that Johnson was Timoney's protege, Timoney promoted him to second-in-command, and during Street's last mayoral campaign, there was a lot of pressure on him to re-appoint Johnson, because he was so highly regarded. Now he's become persona non grata among his former supporters.
While it would be nice to have more dynamic leadership at the Police Department, it's unrealistic to think this will make any great difference if the Commissioner cannot appoint his own precinct commanders. Bill Bratton had to fire about 80% of his precinct commanders in order to change the culture at the NYPD. In Philadelphia, precinct commanders are civil service appointments, unless the voters approve a change to the City Charter. Such a change was proposed in 1994 when the homicide rate was sky-high, but Philadelphia voters, in their infinite wisdom, rejected it.
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07-28-2006, 11:39 AM
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This is right on the money. Keep in mind, people vote against change because local pols tell them to.
While it would be nice to have more dynamic leadership at the Police Department, it's unrealistic to think this will make any great difference if the Commissioner cannot appoint his own precinct commanders. Bill Bratton had to fire about 80% of his precinct commanders in order to change the culture at the NYPD. In Philadelphia, precinct commanders are civil service appointments, unless the voters approve a change to the City Charter. Such a change was proposed in 1994 when the homicide rate was sky-high, but Philadelphia voters, in their infinite wisdom, rejected it.[/quote]
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07-28-2006, 12:37 PM
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Street doesn't want to ramp up criminal justice capacity not just in police, but courts, local prisons, and parole/probation.
I'm baffled as to how he can keep insisting that this is due to "arguments." Somehow the US District Court and the Grand Juries call it drug crime, but Street calls it "arguments."
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07-28-2006, 12:47 PM
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I agree very much that they need to hear from us. Johnson has fought the mayor as much as he can I think. He should be fighting harder, yes. But so did the DA, and lots of people on crime. Street is only interested in the social worker aspect, which Philly does a great job with now. That capacity is impressive, and award winning, CBH, all the private nonprofits. Philly has a philanthropic powerhouse, but evidence based funding is not always there.
What do you think of a more wholistic criticism of Street's speech? Here's my hallwatch.org letter on Street's 2.4 seconds per murder address: "Last night, Street expounded a fuzzy philosophy on crime, without addressing the need for more criminal justice capacity: enforcement, prosecution, court efficiency and adequacy, and appropriate local prison space. Our capacity is so small and out of date, that is it effectively broken. How can this be lost upon the mayor? The DA says so. The police commish says so. Police officers point out their individual experiences with courts that create a revolving door. Parole and probation officers say their case loads are too high to manage. The judges say they can't give appropriate sentences because there is no prison space. Right now, we have only 8800 local jail slots in the city. A remarkable panoply of serious offenders walk out due to no space. Offenders whose crime would not allow them out in other counties and states get to be in poorly policed parole and probation programs in our community. Outside safety funding has plateaued. We are going to have to go the rest of the distance ourselves. The good news: Philly can afford it! There is about $400 million in uncollected long overdue property tax (www.hallwatch.org via recent city data). Shouldn't this be routinely collected anyway before we raise property taxes? The fresh prince of Swedesboro spoke last night on violence for 9 minutes last night. That's 4/100ths of a minute per murder. (9/225). 2.4 seconds per murder. He stated that the uptick in murder is due to arguments. We need more public service announcements, he said. Clearly, when someone kills someone it is fair to say that they were not getting along, so he's on safe ground there. What is a more likely explanation, one that South Philly mobsters state themselves, is that the bulk of our murder rate is from arguments related to drugs. [See www.philadelphiaweekly.com for article on Mobsters at the Shore who state that the murder rate is due to arguments -- about drugs]. South Philly needs to hear more about the Street administration's efforts against drug dealers that has cost millions of dollars in police overtime. Officer Skerski was on overtime. What Skerski needed was more cops responding with him. The Commish asked for 500 cops. Street gave him 100, after the community complained vehemently. Street focused on tertiary prevention that is intended for future violence intervention. Not bad, but not relevant to the murder that occurred this week at 18th and Ellsworth. And after the speech. And will again tonight. How could he not speak on concrete witness protection? Improving, streamlining the local courts? The DA wants $1 million in local funds for witness protection. Why did Street fight that, calling it a potential "slush fund" that will "just sit there"? Then a little girl in South Philly was shot in the leg by the drug dealers who terrorize that neighborhood and none of the dozens of witnesses would step forward given the reality of having to bump into the shooters with no long term witness protection available. More prison space that attends to current real demand? Why would he not mention that we only have 8800 local prison slots, and really do need more to handle the volume of bad guys now. To Street, there are no bad guys who run drug organizations that terrorize neighborhoods, just young men who don't get along. Can Street cogently point to what other counties do already: video witness testimony, witness testimony voice distortion, holding high risk offenders until their court date, holding the likely no shows until their court date for certain risky charges? Requiring witnesses to only show for their portion of the trial? Limiting court date continuances to one instead of "whatever"? It's harder to skip school than to skip court. No teacher will say "didn't show; see ya next time, just issue a bench warrant that can't get processed since there are already one in 25 Philly residents with outstanding "no-show" warrants." But that happens 200-1000 times a day in the criminal courts in Philly. Any Philly police officer will state this plainly. So how will upping gun laws improve the fact that most judges are throwing out gun charges anyway as part of pleas, or just to clear the docket? Only a chosen few make it to the new gun court. Let's support gun control in Philly, but let's realize that the prison capacity to hold more offenders is not there. Court capacity is inadequate in Philly. The DA needs new ADAs to process new charges. Her office needs salaries competitive with defense attorneys and to retain institutional wisdom and money for new hires to match the demand over which her office has no control. There's no local prison space for the guilty now. The Daily News cited only 8800 local prison slots for the 5th largest city in the nation. Capacity: more efficient courts, prosecution, and local prison space availability were key to previous gains, [along with aging boomers, a good economy]. Can we replicate those successes from within the city? Only if you request that your local elected representative see that public safety capacity is improved. Philly is woefully under capacity on the continuum of criminal justice response: police, courts, prisons. If a foreign power presided over such quiet incapacitation of a city's criminal justice capacity, it would be considered an act of war. We have to start asking ourselves why our mayor, whose ties to organized criminals is documented, is so strangely unable to address criminal justice capacity. See the encyclopedic "Black Brothers, Inc.: The Violent Rise and Fall of Philadelphia's Black Mafia" by Sean Patrick Griffin. Social workers are not enough to fight violent loose drug organizations that control whole zip codes. Why is he fighting the recommendations of his own police commissioner, DA, and others? Why, when there are uncollected revenues available, and heavy municipal borrowing for other projects, is Street not updating criminal justice capacity? Rendell sold the city debt to put the city in the black for $80 million. Why won't Street do the same to update capacity and response?"
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07-29-2006, 12:00 PM
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07-29-2006, 12:04 PM
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