Oh, and by the way, can anybody tell me how the city allows a strip joint to run two buildings down from an elementary school and across the street from a playground?...this is 52nd/pine area and this is also pathetic. It is also a clear example of the school district's/city's indifference to the well being of its children....

1st graders and strippers - what the hell is this?

I live on the park and take my kids there all the time. Like any park in this part of the city, there are occasionally things happen that you don't like, but it doesn't seem out of control or endemic or anything else.

I wonder how much time you spend in Clark Park? Much sketchier things go on there!

I take back the whole bit about more police at the park. I was pissed off and writing. In general, more of a police and/or administrative presence at parks, would be fine with me. I did not mean to single out the one park where this happened.

I still think, though, that it is unacceptable for things like what I saw to take place at a park (any park) RIGHT BY THE KID PLAYGROUND. There are plenty of places to get your dick sucked, it doesn't have to be right by a toddler sliding board. I accept the portion of fault that lies with me for not confronting the person directly, but even an occassional occurance like the below is unacceptable to me. If I see any scetchy activity (like dick sucking by the playground) at Clark I will write on this blog just as I am now...and hopefully I will have the guts to confront the person(s) directly next time.

Has anyone used this? Do you find it helpful?

I had to do a proect for school in North Philly and I used the map. It gave me good statistics for the last month which helped prepare me what to expect.

I am pleased for now about the PPD and the administrations efforts for crime. Any input?

I know TheFuzz and fellow detectives are very busy with critical cases, but I was just wondering - Does the PPD have the capability of tracking cell calls to an individual number? I know they can do it technologically, but is it a big legal hassle? Here's why I ask:
Sunday afternoon I hear ambulence sirens. I go to my front door and see paramedics standing on my next-door neighbor's porch. This is a neighbor who I've never seen. I tell the paramedics I've never seen anyone in that house. I certainly didn't hear any noises or any evidence of anyone being there that day or recently. One paramedic calls dispatch and confirms the address. They have a discussion with my neighbor across the street who's been there thirty years and he fills them in on the situation. They leave. Fifteen minutes later, my bell rings. The paramedics are back. They got another call claiming to be from my next-door neighbor's address saying someone was having a baby. He asked if he could get to the alley so he could take a look to see if there was any evidence of activity. Of course. Then a ladder truck pulls up behind the ambulence in case they might have to go up to the second floor or the roof to get in the place. It's a good thing my neighbor across the street knew that the back door was unlocked (apparently a potential buyer has looked at it recently) so they went in the back and of course no one was home.
From what I've read about the amount of calls they go on, I'm surprised these paramedics have time to go to the bathroom during their shifts (if they do at all). Is there anything that can be done about prank phone calls?

sweet..or a cattle prod would be good, too!

I am starting to see the car windows broken again. I saw 2 yesterday morning on 47th ST and heard about a third window on 46th ST. I wonder if they guy the Fuzz caught is back on the streets.

If it's a vandalism thing I'm not sure if this might be related but this morning (trash day) all of the trash cans were overturned on my block and the next one up. At first I chalked it up to hungry animals except that a couple of bags were also thrown into the back of my neighbor's pickup truck and into the middle of the street. Plus, I have one neighbor who keeps a decent eye on things and he said he saw the kids do it in the middle of the night and called the cops to report it.

Fuzz, if you're here I'd be happy to share the details my neighbor gave me.

__________________

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

2 weeks ago when I was walking the dog, I saw a man in a pick up truck unload his trash bags on the 4600 block of Spruce St. It was collection day so I guess he thought no one would notice. Not sure where all his trash was coming from.

A co-worker of mine who lives a few blocks up from me on Webster (I forget exactly which block, between 54th and 57th) just had to leave work because her house was broken into this morning and her 80 +/- year-old mother was held at gunpoint. So far that's all I know but she was obviously very shaken up.

And I'm not sure if this is related but since I'm writing I might as well relay another incident. The block captain of 5300 Webster told me that a 17 year-old kid on her block was arrested a few weeks ago (by way of the SWAT team) for trying to mug an elderly woman on that block, also at gunpoint. The only differences being that it was not a break-in and that it was around 3am. And the woman apparently did not give up easily.

She said the kid's father has been hospitalized for over a month now and she suspected the two relatives that have been staying with him (two men, only a few years older than him) were a bad influence. She worried for the father because this is section-8 house and she didn't want him to lose his home because of his kid's poor judgment.

I don't really have any more information than that and I don't want to speculate but I know most of us are familiar with the fact that some kids travel in packs and they put each other through bouts of hazing/initiation every now and then. I kind of hope that is not the case here but it's a bad scene one way or another. With school letting out soon maybe this is a good sign for all of us to be more aware of our surroundings. And if you have any elderly neighbors, especially that might live alone, check up on them every once in a while.

I don't know why any kid thinks assailing an elderly woman makes him a man but I hope this guy gets got.

__________________

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)