Membership is key
for 8th PDAC

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

At the first 8th Police District Advisory Council general meeting since the spring, the district’s commanding officer last week encouraged community leaders to take a bigger role in identifying and preventing crime in their neighborhoods.
Responding to questions about the PDAC’s membership policies, Capt. Deborah Kelly suggested that regular attendees of the organization’s monthly meetings formalize their ties with it.
Though the meetings are open to the public and attended by dozens of local civilians, prospective members of the PDAC must meet a series of requirements, including attendance at three consecutive meetings and maintaining a clean criminal record.
The annual monthly meeting schedule generally begins in September or October and continues through June. Meetings are held every first Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the 8th district headquarters at Academy and Red Lion roads.
Larry Mitchell is the chairman of the organization’s executive board. Representatives from area Town Watch patrols, civic associations, businesses and other groups generally attend, but most are not formal members of the PDAC.
"We’re starting a new year. Why don’t we start fresh?" Kelly said. "Let’s have a membership drive, and let’s sign up and be real members."
The captain also invited folks from other area groups, like local religious congregations and schools, to start attending meetings and contributing to the PDAC. She’s hoping that the organization will re-emphasize its declared mission.
The PDAC is designed to provide a forum for civilians and police to report and analyze crime-related problems in the neighborhoods, to formulate solutions to those problems and to develop ways to prevent similar problems in the future.
"Hopefully, we’re going to be concentrating on those four tenets for the rest of the year," Kelly said. "And we’re going to start tackling these problems head on, raising awareness and increasing our membership."
Looking ahead, the captain continued, the district is planning its strategy for protecting patrons of local malls and shopping centers during the holiday shopping season.
One older piece of business involves the city’s new curfew center program.
The Far Northeast, which includes the 8th and neighboring 7th police districts, does not have a curfew center. So, youths cited by police for curfew violations are shipped down to a facility in the 15th district in Frankford to wait for their parents to pick them up there.
Elsewhere in the city, the centers have helped reduce juvenile crime and nuisance complaints. Some members of the PDAC support the idea of opening a local curfew center.
In other PDAC business:
• The group will host a Thanksgiving buffet dinner for officers of the 8th district on Saturday, Nov. 17, and is seeking volunteers to work the event. Meals will be served to each of the district’s three shifts that day as a show of appreciation by the community for the work that police do year-round.
To volunteer, call community relations officer Steve Carr at 215-686-3080.
• The 8th district is participating in a fund drive for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Until Oct. 31, individuals who donate $5 to the cause will be given a pin featuring the Komen Foundation and Philadelphia Police Department insignias. The pins are available at the 8th district station.
• The PDAC recognized six Officers of the Month covering May, June and July.
Officers Michael Gereaghty and Kevin Conoway earned the May honor for capturing four gunmen who allegedly stole jewelry from two people outside Boulevard Lanes on May 1. Shortly after the crime, the officers spotted the suspects in a car on the 3000 block of Holme Ave. and arrested them.
Officers Jerry Velez and Rich Greger were honored for their June 29 capture of a suspected bank robber and recovery of more than $22,000 in stolen cash. The crime occurred on the 14400 block of Bustleton Ave.
Velez and Greger spotted the suspected getaway car near Route 1 and Old Lincoln Highway, where they stopped the vehicle and detained the driver, who was soon identified as the alleged robber.
Officers Andrew Jericho and Dimitrios Loizos made two major arrests on July 27 to earn the monthly award.
Early that afternoon, the officers responded to a report of a residential burglary on the 9000 block of Revere St. While surveying the area, they saw a man fitting the description of the robber on the 8800 block of Blue Grass Road. The officers captured the suspect after a foot chase through residential yards.
Later in the same shift, Jericho and Loizos responded to a robbery in the Pennypack Woods section. After getting a description of the suspect, they spotted him on the 9100 block of Academy Road. Again, the suspect fled on foot, but the officers chased him down.
• The next 8th PDAC meeting will be on Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. at the 8th District, Academy and Red Lion Roads. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com