A Frankford man recently was arrested after police found he allegedly had stored more than 600 stolen plastic bread trays on the porch of his home on the 5000 block of Darrah Street.
The trays, used by bakeries to ship bread and rolls, are little noticed, sometimes used by kids to build forts. But Officer Michael Lewis, speaking at the 15th District’s Police Service Area 1 meeting at Aria Health Frankford campus on Feb. 26, told residents those trays cost about $50 each.
And, there is a black market in the custom-made polypropylene trays that cost bakeries millions a year, according to a June 2013 article by Northeast Times reporter William Kenny.
For example, Horsham-based Bimbo Bakeries USA loses 250,000 trays annually at a cost of $3 million. The Frankford stash is just a local example of a nationwide problem. The thefts prompted Coca-Cola, Bimbo and Sara Leff Corp. to form a partnership in 2009 to combat them. The aptly named Control of Missing Baskets and Trays, or COMBAT, uses its own team of investigators to recover missing crates and to push for criminal charges against the thieves.
Lewis said the Darrah Street man was going to sell the trays to a recycling company for about $2 each.
At the Feb. 26 meeting, Lt. Duane Gordon was introduced as PSA 1’s new supervisor. Gordon transferred from the 16th District.
Always a topic at PSA 1 meetings is drug dealing at Frankford and Foulkrod.The dealers are being arrested, however, there are people who are more than willing to replace those police haul away.
“There are local boys around the 1600 block of Foulkrod Street,” he said. “We hit them hard,” he said, and others are out on the streets. Juveniles also are in the mix, he said.
Another persistent problem drug spot is on the 5000 block of Griscom St., neighbors said, which they said is made worse by zoning violations at the properties that dealers use.
Lewis said that drugs are police issues, but the zoning matters should be referred to the Department of Licenses and Inspections. Neighbors said they have complained to L&I and the problems are not addressed.
Gordon and Lewis both talked up the Police Department’s SafeCam program. Through the program, the owners of private surveillance systems make their recordings available to police.
Lewis would like to see more and more private systems registered with police, especially on the 4700 block of Frankford Avenue. There are too many unlit places, and darkness, he said, is crime’s ally.
For information on SafeCam, visit http://safecam.phillypolice.com. ••
