Capt. Leonard Ditchkofsky, new commander of the 8th Police District, has worked in some of the city’s roughest areas in his 31-year career, but his current assignment wouldn’t fit that description.
“It’s a beautiful neighborhood, and my job is to keep it that way,” he said.
Ditchkofsky, who replaced retired Capt. Deborah Kelly last month, introduced himself last week to members of the Rotary Club of Frankford-Northeast.
A 1976 North Catholic High School graduate, he has worked in the 9th, 22nd and 25th police districts, East Detectives and the special victims and major crimes divisions. He’s in a uniform again.
“I have not been in uniform since November 1999,” he said of his days in the 9th district.
A Northeast resident, he hears people talk about the decline of certain areas.
“I would like the decline to stop,” he said.
Ditchkofsky, 53, who is enrolled in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) and expects to retire in three years, said there are 95 officers in the district, enough to do the job, but he would welcome more.
The new commander favors aggressive, marked patrols rather than plainclothes beats.
Community Easter egg hunts and fall festivals are fine, he said, but he doesn’t want to divert his resources.
“I want the guys and girls who work for me to concentrate one-hundred percent on crime,” he said.
According to the commander, the top three crimes in the district are burglaries, thefts from autos and theft of autos.
Home burglaries usually take place during the day, he said, when people are at work. There are few witnesses, and the crooks shrewdly wear gloves to prevent fingerprint lifts, so the crimes can be difficult to solve.
The 8th Police District will host a night court for all summary offenses in the Northeast Police Division this Friday. Municipal Court Judge William Austin Meehan will preside.
The Rotary Club of Frankford-Northeast meets every Tuesday from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. at Cannstatter’s, at 9130 Academy Road.
The speaker at the April 3 meeting will be Tom Branigan, executive director of the Delaware River City Corporation. ••
