Philadelphia 2035 (York, Penn: yearly, breakfast, fried)

[2e1m5a]

Originally Posted by Hannah5555

, but I don't think I agree with the residency requirement. Like I said, if they required SF cops to live in SF, there wouldn't be any.

That is a San Francisco-only problem.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

^agreed. I have a cousin who is an officer and he moved his family out of the NE a year or two ago. I don’t blame him one bit. I couldn’t imagine having a job that required you to live in a juristication.

I wouldn't equate being a police officer as just a job. Or rather it shouldn't be viewed that way, imo. Their inattention to the city, which is obvious to just about everyone(Hannah who's been here about 6 months has noticed it), means they don't care about their performance since "voting with their feet" is more important to them. Why would they care about protecting a place when they have less of a stake in it?

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by 2e1m5a

Amen--and we're talking about Police and Fire Fighters--professions which traditionally require a local familiarity and relationship with the citizens they are sworn to serve and protect. The War on "Drugs" has eroded police trust and relations in many city neighborhoods specifically because it is fought by Cops with no connection or familiarity to the people there.



I don't want Cops or Firefighters working for Philadelphia that have no stake in the future of the city--let them volunteer at the underfunded Fire Departments or overly funded and low personnel Police Departments where they live. Suburbanites have been feeding off city amenities and services for too long while contributing nothing.

100% agree with you!

It really lessens the respect I'm suppose to have for them.

[gwillyfromphilly]

PlanPhilly | State gives $12M for Philly transportation projects

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by kyb01

I wouldn't equate being a police officer as just a job. Or rather it shouldn't be viewed that way, imo. Their inattention to the city, which is obvious to just about everyone(Hannah who's been here about 6 months has noticed it), means they don't care about their performance since "voting with their feet" is more important to them. Why would they care about protecting a place when they have less of a stake in it?

It is a job. A tough job. A job most people wouldn’t want to do. PPD has huge recruiting problems. As of last year, there was at least 200 open positions due to shortages of new officers. Your beloved Ramsey had no answers when the numbers began to dwindle under him.

Why should anyone want to protect neighborhoods that are trashed by their own residents? Filled with crime and drug dealers. People who would spit on you for trying to help? AND on top of that, force them to send their kids to arguably the worst school district in all the country. Force them to live in a neighborhood where crime is increasing, where retail options are disappearing, where the awful schools are actually getting worse with even more children who grow up not learning how to be respectful or pretty much anything other than the thug mentality. That’s the reality for a hell of a lot of blue collar people in Philadelphia.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

It is a job. A tough job. A job most people wouldn’t want to do. PPD has huge recruiting problems. As of last year, there was at least 200 open positions due to shortages of new officers. Your beloved Ramsey had no answers when the numbers began to dwindle under him.

Why should anyone want to protect neighborhoods that are trashed by their own residents? Filled with crime and drug dealers. People who would spit on you for trying to help? AND on top of that, force them to send their kids to arguably the worst school district in all the country. Force them to live in a neighborhood where crime is increasing, where retail options are disappearing, where the awful schools are actually getting worse with even more children who grow up not learning how to be respectful or pretty much anything other than the thug mentality. That’s the reality for a hell of a lot of blue collar people in Philadelphia.

The schools may not be getting better, but the evidence I see tells me they're not getting worse.

And there are some schools that are making progress, actually.

As for some of your other statements, I've now spent a little too much time resident in one such neighborhood to accept that blanket generalization as true. Someone here was applying pressure - through the police - on the nuisance stop 'n' go whose hours were gradually reduced, then that shut down entirely, this past summer. The intersection where I catch the buses that take me to the subway into Center City has been a lot quieter since, and the two murders that took place on opposite ends of my block last year have not been repeated this year.

[cpomp]

Apartment building proposed near Italian Market increased to eight stories, 182 units

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

It is a job. A tough job. A job most people wouldn’t want to do. PPD has huge recruiting problems. As of last year, there was at least 200 open positions due to shortages of new officers. Your beloved Ramsey had no answers when the numbers began to dwindle under him.

Why should anyone want to protect neighborhoods that are trashed by their own residents? Filled with crime and drug dealers. People who would spit on you for trying to help? AND on top of that, force them to send their kids to arguably the worst school district in all the country. Force them to live in a neighborhood where crime is increasing, where retail options are disappearing, where the awful schools are actually getting worse with even more children who grow up not learning how to be respectful or pretty much anything other than the thug mentality. That’s the reality for a hell of a lot of blue collar people in Philadelphia.

I know what the reality is....how many goddam times do I need to tell this board that I have close family living in some bad neighborhoods. I also had two family members who were in the PPD. So , yes, I am familiar with all of what you say.

But I still think PPD should show some actual allegiance to the city. I'm not really convinced that they have that.

[MB1562]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

It is a job. A tough job. A job most people wouldn’t want to do. PPD has huge recruiting problems. As of last year, there was at least 200 open positions due to shortages of new officers. Your beloved Ramsey had no answers when the numbers began to dwindle under him.

Why should anyone want to protect neighborhoods that are trashed by their own residents? Filled with crime and drug dealers. People who would spit on you for trying to help? AND on top of that, force them to send their kids to arguably the worst school district in all the country. Force them to live in a neighborhood where crime is increasing, where retail options are disappearing, where the awful schools are actually getting worse with even more children who grow up not learning how to be respectful or pretty much anything other than the thug mentality. That’s the reality for a hell of a lot of blue collar people in Philadelphia.

Police departments have done themselves no favors over the years with their blatant and rampant corruption, racism, and excessive use of force. A lot of the hatred toward them is of their own making. Ironically cops constantly whine about the "no snitch" culture that surrounds murders in tough neighborhoods. Yet when it comes to corruption within their own ranks, they follow the exact same code. The Philadelphia Police are probably one of the most corrupt departments in the country, and that's saying something. Every year multiple officers are fired for a wide variety of offenses, and those are just the ones that get caught. Like crime in general, police misconduct is vastly underreported. So true corruption is magnified to the Nth degree in reality. They need to change their own culture before they can ***** and complain about others.

Just think of the Rizzo years and what that did to police-community relations. Those scars don't heal quickly or easily, and get passed down on both sides.

[thedirtypirate]

Yesterday, I went to edit the comment and I wrote a much more thought out post, but then when I hit save the 90 minute expiration had already occurred. I don't really feel like rewriting it now, but I don't deny that the police culture in itself isn't an issue to an extent. However, the police aren't the source of the problems in the poor crime plagued communities of Philadelphia. You could make an argument that the NE isn't declining, it's just changing into a far more diverse community. However, I still believe the socioeconomic factors are trending down overall. Unlike like around Center City and surrounding areas which is booming but too expensive for the average working class person.