15th Police District’s busy,
sergeant tells civic group

By KatieRose Keenan
Times Staff Writer

The 15th Police District is the busiest district in Philadelphia.
So says Sgt. Dennis Rosenbaum, who told members of the Frankford Civic Association during their meeting last week that the district had reached 113,000 calls for the year so far.
"That number was just reached an hour ago," Rosenbaum said during the civic group’s Oct. 2 meeting. "The next district over is the 25th, and they are only at 93,000 calls so far this year."
Rosenbaum, who joined the 15th district last November, previously served in the police department’s strategic intervention and tactical enforcement special unit (SITE) with then-Commissioner Sylvester Johnson.
"I love working in this district. I grew up in the area and am originally from Mayfair," he said.
The SITE unit served as a specialized anti-crime task force that operated in high-crime areas of the city. The unit worked directly for Johnson but was disbanded in February to redeploy SITE members to street patrols as the department added manpower to district patrol staffs.
"The Philadelphia police department is currently being reconstructed. Mayor Nutter had ordered that all police cars must have two officers in them at one time; no officer is allowed to be by his or herself. This is for the safety of our officers and is probably going to be permanent," Rosenbaum said.
But revamping the Philadelphia Police Department is going to take time, Rosenbaum warned.
"Please be patient with us, because it is going to take a while for us to reorganize the police department," he said. "I know there have been complaints of people having to wait two or three hours for such things as automobile accidents, but we are short on cars right now and we won’t have as many officers working at the stations since we are doubling everyone up that is patrolling.
"We also have put many officers that were on desk duty back on the streets as well," he added. "If the car accident is minor and you’re not hurt, your best bet is coming down to the police station. We are going to have someone at the window at all times to take in the influx of in-person reports. We will be taking all phone calls by priority."
Rosenbaum also said new cameras and lights are being placed throughout Frankford and the rest of the city.
"I don’t know if you have noticed the light bars and cameras that have been popping up. We have two cameras at Bridge and Pratt streets. Now, we are going to start putting them all through the city. We plan to have about fifty placed in Frankford along the corridor between Kensington and Bridge streets as well as the rest of the area," Rosenbaum said.
Similar cameras were previously used in the SITE unit, which used the cameras to scout out areas with a high level of drug dealing. The cameras can be moved from place to place to follow illegal activity.
"You are not going to be able to commit a crime and not be on the camera. We are also placing cameras east and west from the corridor so we can see perpetrators in whatever direction they run," explained Rosenbaum.
The heated debate concerning an increasing number of buildings being converted into recovery houses and rooming houses was still in full stride at the meeting.
"Frankford needs to get back to one-family dwelling homes," said Liz McCollum–Nazario, president of the Frankford Business and Professional Association. "Most of these houses in Frankford were created for single families. Frankford is filled with churches, rooming houses, recovery houses and transitional houses. All these rooming houses are being sucked into one area of Frankford, and it is not what a viable community needs."
The issue of the number of buildings bring converted was brought up when a zoning application to convert a three-story house to a six-family dwelling was presented to the civic association’s board. Residents are already living in the building.
Pictures passed around of the house showed several windows boarded up.
"The appearance alone shows a lot. It’s detrimental to the neighborhood and quality of life. But we can’t make decisions in one night and on appearance alone," said McCollum-Nazario. ••
Reporter KatieRose Keenan can be reached at 215-354-3110 or kkeenan@phillynews.com