8th PDAC meeting
discusses city violence

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Dennis O’Brien has a history of sponsoring public-safety legislation in the state legislature.
In the past, O’Brien, a former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has helped enact stronger punishment provisions for specific types of criminals, including sex offenders and those who assault police.
That emphasis in his work should come as no surprise, as a lot of Philadelphia police live in O’Brien’s Far Northeast legislative district, the 169th. Sadly, it’s also no surprise that when one of the city’s police officers gets hurt or killed on the job, very often he’s one of the House speaker’s constituents.
Slain Philadelphia Officer Chuck Cassidy was a longtime resident of O’Brien’s district. Cassidy was fatally shot during a West Oak Lane doughnut shop robbery on Oct. 31.
During the monthly meeting of the 2nd Police District Advisory Council on Nov. 7, O’Brien said that the officer’s death is a grim reminder that much still must be done in Harrisburg and in the community to stem violence.
"I think you’ll see a change from every ethnic group in every neighborhood across the city, saying, ‘Enough is enough,’" O’Brien said. "We need to change our criminal-justice systems, our educational systems and our behavioral-health systems."
Figuring that individuals don’t simply wake up one day and decide to turn to a life of crime, the House speaker is promoting a holistic approach to crime reduction.
"I know we need more police in the city of Philadelphia," he said, "but we also need more probation and parole officers, more consistent confinement and more drug and alcohol treatment."
By consistent confinement, O’Brien means mandatory state prison time for all convicted felons. Enacting such a measure would help ease overcrowding in county prisons, particularly those in Philadelphia, and save money for municipalities across the state.
The measure would benefit inmates by availing them to a multitude of state prison programs, including substance-abuse treatment, anger-management programs and GED classes.
O’Brien also wants to keep a closer watch on ex-cons by streamlining and bolstering the probation and parole systems. Nowadays, local and state agencies need better-defined roles so they don’t duplicate each other’s work with individual offenders. Meanwhile, hiring additional officers will reduce the caseloads handled by each one and enable them to invest more time in individual cases.
On the prevention side, O’Brien believes that better educational systems will reduce the volume of young people who turn to lives of crime. The House speaker claims that most modern-day students are "visual learners," but schools don’t employ enough visual instruction. Instead, schools still rely on traditional written-word models and alienate many students, he added.
O’Brien believes that with a new mayor, a new police commissioner and possibly a new public school CEO in Philadelphia next year, there will be a good climate for reform.
In addition to O’Brien’s presentation, the 8th PDAC recognized four Officers of the Month, two each for August and September.
Officers Joe Hansbury and Robert Kruse on Aug. 2 arrested a suspected drug dealer in the Liddonfield Homes public housing complex.
While on patrol along the 8800 block of Cottage St., the officers saw a known ex-convict park a car in the street and flee the vehicle, leaving the engine running and the driver’s door open. On the front seat of the car, the officers saw what later was determined to be 32 grams of marijuana.
They followed the suspect to the rear of an apartment on the block, but he then fled out the front door to an unknown location. After securing search warrants, the officers, aided by colleagues from the Narcotics Field Unit, found additional marijuana in the car and the apartment, bringing the total weight of the drugs to 175 grams. The apartment also contained a loaded .25-caliber automatic pistol, scales and drug-packaging materials, police said.
Police arrested the owner of the apartment on drug charges and continue to search for the suspect who fled the scene.
Also in August, Hansbury and Kruse arrested one person for stealing a car, two suspected drug dealers and seven minors for underage drinking.
In September, Officers James Balmer and James Boccalupo made three arrests after spotting an alleged drug deal outside the Wawa at Academy and Byberry roads.
The alleged deal occurred at 1:45 p.m. on Sept. 1. The officers were on patrol in the area when they saw one man exchange cash and unknown small objects with another man in the store parking lot.
Balmer and Boccalupo approached the vehicles of both men after the suspected drug deal. The officers observed a large quantity of suspected marijuana inside one of the cars and searched both men, as well as a third male who occupied one of the cars.
In all, the officers allegedly recovered six bags of marijuana and 42 illegally possessed prescription pills, as well as $930 cash from the three men. All were charged with drug offenses.
Also during the 8th PDAC meeting, Victim Assistance Officer Jeanne Austin invited crime victims and innocent witnesses to contact the district at 215-686-3080 to learn about free counseling and financial services available to them.
A variety of public programs are in place to compensate individuals for lost possessions and expenses incurred as a result of crime. Also, emotional counseling programs are available.
The 8th PDAC is seeking volunteers to help serve a buffet dinner at the annual Police Appreciation Dinner at the district station on Nov. 17. Available shifts include 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., 4 to 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. to midnight. Also, dessert donations are being accepted.
For more information, call the district at 215-686-3080. ••
The next 8th PDAC meeting will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Academy and Red Lion roads.
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com