Not to mention that Nutter did all that seand mentions while managing 6 weeks of the city being in the major national and international spotlight with one of the most hotly contested Democratic primaries in recent memory. It was an opportunity to showcase the city for the national and international press and he and his team (along with others) did an outstanding job.

Yeah, awfully disappointing.

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Adlerian PLEASE SEEK ANOTHER THERAPIST, this one IS NOT WORKING

You know, if you would simply stop taking the lazy way out by watching
"news" instead of *reading* news you'd know that he's going to
stuff all the time and is hardly invisible. In fact I wish he would tone
down the PR appearances and get on with governing.

BC, you probably know by now that Christ Almighty wouldn't satisfy some of the people
here. And we're talking about people who are probably not doing anything personally
to affect change but have nothing but complaints for those like Nutter who
are trying to do just that.

Precisely.

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NUTTER 2007

I was one of the cops you saw. We go out to certain sites every other weeks to clean up certain encampments. The "residents" are given written notice 72 hours prior to the clean up so that they can take their personal belongings like medications, clothing, identifications, etc. We have Outreach workers from Project HOME, the Office of Supportive Housing, and sometimes Project HOME brings a doctor around to the encampments. We use Ready, Willing, and Able to conduct the clean ups. These folks are former homeless men and women and it shows the people there that there is a way out. Project HOME and OSH are there to try and convince these folks to come into the "system" and start working towards getting housing. The police are there to provide security for everyone there and quite honestly, Project HOME has found that in the past, shelter-resistant homeless people are more likely to go in when the police are present. None of the agencies involved can force these folks into shelter. If they appear to be in a poor mental state, we, the police, will do a 302 commitment and take them to a crisis center.
The clean ups aren't done to make them leave. It is done to keep the sanitation conditions safe. Ususally what is thrown out is items that the homeless voluntarily leave behind. Wet, ruined clothing/bedding, food, general trash, and unfortunately for the cleaners, jugs and jugs of urine. At the YSC, they are so accustomed to it that they usually pack their things long before our arrival and some of them bag up the trash themselves and set it aside so that the cleaners don't have to go through the area collecting it. We leave and they bring their belongings back. We're not there to "kick" anybody out.
We'll be out there again in 2 weeks. Feel free to come over and I'll be happy to explain it to you first hand and you can talk to the other agencies as well.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/14946781@N03/

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/My_Philadelphia/photos

I hate to divert the topic, but I will for one moment. Morale in the PPD is at the lowest it's been in years. And for the record, this started before the firings of the 4 officers. It is worse than the Neal era and worse than the Timoney era.
Personally, I like seeing my boss wearing a uniform, holding brass accountable, and showing emotion. But some of the things going on behind closed doors that the public doesn't get to see just has everyone totally demoralized.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/14946781@N03/

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/My_Philadelphia/photos

Thanks, LBomb. It's good to know what is going on at the encampments. The situation probably won't entirely be solved until the thing is torn down anyway.

Sorry to hear about the morale. Change is always painful. I assume the "things going on behind closed doors" sound like they are making a lot of systemic changes, which messes with people's lives, even if in the end it is for the better (not that I know for sure it will be). I think there is a strong perception with the public that the situation with the police is getting better -- I know I see many, many more cops on the street on a daily basis than I used to. the communication with the public has improved tremendously.

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Adlerian PLEASE SEEK ANOTHER THERAPIST, this one IS NOT WORKING

I really love my city. I do see improvements and I am optimistic that this summer their will be less gun violence on the street. I know change takes time, but I hope that the police department can take it in stride and know that "this toooooooo shall pass". CHANGE IS GOOD and we need it in the city. The Morale will change once they see the good changes that RAMSEY and NUTTER are making.

I know everyone wants a safer city. I do.