Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross probably can’t go to a community meeting without answering the same particular question at least once. Folks always seem to ask why there aren’t more police in the neighborhood.
In recent months, Ross’ response has always been pretty much the same, even when he’s speaking to his own neighbors like he did on June 8 at the joint meeting of the Fox Chase Homeowners Association and Town Watch. Ross, who was appointed in January by first-year Mayor Jim Kenney, is a longtime Fox Chase resident. But Fox Chase is no different than any other neighborhood in that there’s a citywide police shortage.
The Philadelphia Police Department is operating with about 400 officers fewer than its allotted number of about 6,500 due to a relatively high rate of retirements and scarce number of qualified applicants. Ross is trying to boost recruiting with a plan to relax the department’s requirement that new hires have earned at least 60 college credits. Although applicants can bypass the college requirement if they have prior police experience, two years of military experience or have completed the Police Explorers youth program, the department may be missing out on many other good candidates who don’t meet any of those prerequisites, according to the commissioner.
“What concerns me is that our overall manpower isn’t what it should be,” Ross told the residents.
The commissioner noted that the 2nd Police District, which covers about half of Fox Chase, actually has 10 more officers assigned than it did in 2009 when citywide manpower began to decline. The 7th district covers the rest of the neighborhood. That noted, census data show that the population and diversity are also increasing in the 2nd district and the Northeast as a whole.
But police manpower has lagged.
There was no college requirement for new officers throughout the department’s 265-year history until former Commissioner Charles Ramsey introduced the measure during his seven-year tenure immediately preceding Ross’. In fact, many of today’s top commanders did not attend college until after they were already on the job, although many have since acquired bachelor’s and graduate degrees, Ross said. And they have proven to be exemplary police officers.
Ramsey’s stated objective was to boost the department’s professionalism and work ethic. Even today, Ross acknowledges that college, military or even Explorers experience allows the department to evaluate an applicant’s worthiness for the job based on his or her past performance.
Yet, Ross said, Ramsey’s requirements can be prohibitive for many applicants from poorer neighborhoods, those who can not afford college. So there’s a reduction in the department’s racial and socioeconomic diversity. Indeed, Police Academy class sizes have been reduced from over 100 routinely to as few as 18 recently, he said. And many classes are populated largely by non-Philadelphians. One recent academy class was split 50/50 between recruits from the city and those from elsewhere.
Ross views this as counterproductive for a department looking to improve its standing with the communities it serves.
“(Working for) the police, fire and prisons is a gateway to the middle class for a lot of people,” the commissioner said.
As a companion measure, Ross is also planning to raise the police department’s minimum hiring age from 19 to 22, so that recruits generally have more “life experience” before setting foot in the academy. The commissioner did not announce a schedule for implementing the new hiring requirements.
In other meeting business:
• Bob Previdi, policy coordinator for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, reported that his organization is lobbying for several legislative measures to further roadway safety in the city. He said he recently visited Harrisburg to support the renewal of the city’s red light camera program, as well as to advocate for the implementation of a speed camera program on Roosevelt Boulevard. The coalition is also lobbying the mayor and City Council to spend more on street maintenance. The current street repair budget is $10 million a year. The coalition wants the allocation doubled.
• Residents unanimously approved a zoning variance that would allow a couple to build a deck on the side and rear of their home on the 1100 block of Solly Ave. Immediate neighbors voiced no objections to the proposal. The application awaits final consideration from the Zoning Board of Adjustment. ••
