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By all accounts, the 911 system failed miserably on the night of the Polec attack, delaying police response to dozens of emergency calls from Fox Chase in the 45 minutes leading up to the fatal beating.
"My wife and I were among the thirty-some who called 911," said Steve Phillips, who lived with his family on Ridgeway Street, just east of Rockwell Avenue, 10 years ago.
That’s just about where the trouble began, in and around the idle Fox Chase Playground, at about 10 p.m. Like many of his neighbors, Phillips — who is now president of the Fox Chase Town Watch — heard and saw tempers flaring outside of his front door.
"They were outside my house, fifty-some (youths)," he said. "They were yelling at each other. They weren’t fighting. That’s why we called it in as a disturbance."
And that’s precisely how the police radio system categorized their call and all of the others. Unfortunately, "disturbances" don’t rank very high on the list of priorities for patrol cops, especially on a busy Friday night as it was that Nov. 11.
Another problem, according to Philadelphia Deputy Police Commissioner Charles Brennan, was radio traffic.
"In the district he was killed (the 2nd), the airwaves were clogged," Brennan said. "There were places where cops were available, but dispatchers couldn’t get the jobs out because the airwaves were so clogged."
In short, there were too many people trying to communicate over one radio frequency that covered all of Northeast Philadelphia.
Besides that, tape recordings of the many 911 calls later revealed that some of the operators were rude with callers. That really prompted public outrage.
"When the Polec incident happened, everybody looked at the snotty dispatchers," Brennan said. "We, in turn, started to look at the communications system."
So did John Polec, who vowed never to seek financial gain from his son’s death, but was perfectly willing to use legal pressure to fix 911.
"He said, ‘The Polec family is not going to profit from Eddie’s death.’ It was almost like blood money to him," recalled Joe Casey, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the killers in the case.
Ultimately, John Polec did not sue. In exchange, the city agreed to make specific improvements to the 911 system.
"(Polec) felt it was important because he didn’t want another father’s son killed," Casey said.
According to Brennan, the police department quickly implemented an eight-week training course for all dispatchers, which new hires still must complete. Before the Polec incident, training was mostly of on- the-job variety.
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Technologically, one of the police department’s first moves was to split the Northeast Division into two radio bands — the Northeast and Far Northeast — to lighten on-air traffic.
For the same reason, the department in 1996 installed 800 computers into police vehicles for use throughout the city. Known as Mobile Data Terminals or MDTs, the laptops allow cops to conduct driver’s license, registration, stolen car and wanted person checks, all in a few keystrokes.
Previously, cops would call the dispatchers for the same information.
"The MDTs were probably the biggest result of the Polec incident," Brennan said. "We estimate we pulled off (the air) a million checks a year."
According to the deputy commissioner, the department is about halfway through replacing those 800 original computers with new ones. The job is expected to be complete in about 18 months.
In more recent years, the police radio system has undergone a total overhaul, too. The department went from an analog system to a digital one, built by Motorola, in late 2002.
Though the system, which uses frequencies in the 800-megahertz range, has been criticized for cutting out on patrol cops on several occasions, Brennan insists that it’s the best for the long term.
"It gives us a lot more flexibility," he said.
With the new system, police and firefighters can communicate better. Other city departments use it, too.
Brennan believes the Polec incident laid the foundation for the many improvements to follow.
"I think John Polec was very concerned that this not happen to another child, and he pushed the city on this communications issue," the police commander said. "He was helpful in keeping the idea in the public’s eye and getting things done as quickly as possible."
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The concerned residents of Fox Chase wasted little time in getting some things done, as well.
On Nov. 16, 1994, an estimated 1,000 people attended Polec’s funeral Mass at St. Cecilia’s, where he had served years earlier as an altar boy.
Not long after that, a community meeting drew another throng to the same location, this time to discuss what could be done to make the neighborhood safer.
"I did not attend the meeting," Phillips said. "(But) from what I understand, somebody stood up and said, ‘We need to start a Town Watch,’ and Joe Kurtz was the first person that raised his hand."
With the help of the church, the organizers got the word out. That’s how Phillips found out about it.
Kurtz became the first president. He later left the job to Charlie Heintzelman, who passed the torch to Phillips a few years ago.
"It took a month or two for the Town Watch to get trained and get our radios," said Phillips, an original member of the group.
"Initially, there was a hundred and some that signed up. There was a core group of thirty or forty who got certified."
The idea of Town Watch, they quickly learned, is to identify the hot spots — places where youths and others like to gather at night — and to be a presence there. They’re still there.
The group sends out two teams on patrol every Friday and Saturday night. In all, there are about 200 members and about 50 on active patrol. They can never discount the possibility of another tragedy. In fact, there have been other close calls.
Specifically, on Sept. 7, 2001, a fight following the annual Jeanes Fair involving teens from Fox Chase and Mayfair resulted in critical head injuries to Cardinal Dougherty student William Scheb, 16.
An older youth struck Scheb in the head with a steering wheel "Club" in the street outside the playground. According to witnesses, the victim was an innocent bystander when the fight broke out.
Scheb survived the attack, although he needed extensive therapy to overcome brain injuries.
Town Watch member Chris Rauscher was on patrol at the time and administered first aid to the victim until police and paramedics arrived. Rauscher passed away just last week at age 54.
"(That) was an incredibly ironic flashback," Phillips said of the Scheb incident. "I know Chris was incredibly glad to get medical attention for him."
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Of course, the Town Watch members would much rather not have to react to those negative situations. And one of the best ways to do that, most agree, is to keep kids preoccupied with positive activities.
So, it’s not the least bit coincidental that the very same playground where the Polec beating occurred has been the scene of a renaissance in the last decade.
Within months after the killing, a new gymnasium was completed and placed into service at Fox Chase.
Though it had been in the works long before the Polec death, the gym — which was named in honor of the murder victim — would signal a community’s increased commitment to its youth.
John Curry arrived as director of the center in early summer 1995.
Curry credited local resident Kathy Goodwin with organizing a group of volunteers to supervise activities at the center after normal hours.
That way, they were able to keep the place open longer and give kids something to do.
"The thinking was, if it was open then, maybe (the Polec incident) wouldn’t have happened," Curry said.
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In 2001, city contractors completed work on another major project at the center.
They built two new roller hockey rinks, complete with boards, benches and bleachers, as well as additional basketball courts.
In the last 10 years, according to Curry, the center has also expanded its activities to include sports like hockey, as well as dance, tumbling, cheerleading, arts and crafts and after-school programs.
"They always had an active program with the Fox Rok (Athletic Association) and Fox Chase Soccer Club," Curry said. "Once we had additional resources, we were able to add onto the existing programs and create a diversified program."
Countless thousands of kids and parents pass through Fox Chase’s doors every week, according to the director.
"Just on a Saturday alone out here they have twenty-seven soccer games. That’s from the morning to six p.m. on five fields," he said.
The playground’s advisory council, comprised of the local athletic association’s leaders and community representatives, has a big hand in all of the center’s initiatives.
"We have an advisory council that meets here every month," Curry said. "We’re here to try to do whatever we can do to meet the needs of the community."
Likewise, Fox Chase as a community is doing whatever it can to prevent something like the Eddie Polec killing from happening again. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com