Town Watch Members,

 Linked are the documents disbursed at our meeting. Please review the bylaws as we will vote on them at the next meeting. Your temporary board members are as follows: 

• President: Tom McAvoy
• Vice President: Ed Gonzalez
• Treasurer: Rebecca Williams
• Secretary: Joe Krause

The next general meeting will be 6/19/12 at 6:30pm at St James Lutheran Church.  Elections for board members will be held at this meeting.

Nominations are open for all positions. Please respond by email if you would like to be placed on the ballot along with any information you would like the voters to know about you or your plans for office. Nominee’s information will be published prior to elections. Ballots will be distributed no later then 6/15/12 and nominations remain open until election.

Please recruit more members, your neighbors, as the more people, the lighter the load. I am attaching a Northwood Civic Association Application. Please recruit at least one neighbor.  Please check you email as you will be contacted shortly regarding town watch and the division property log.  

Best regards,

Pete Specos of the 15th PDAC watches as another gun is inventoried

There was a major haul on Saturday at St. Joachim’s as 33 weapons were turned in for Shop Rite gift cards.

It was one of the most successful days in quite some time as officers from the 15th Police District spent Saturday morning in the O’Kane Room at St. Joachim Parish hall.  11 rifles and 22 hand guns were exchanged for a gift card from the Shop Rite at Frankford Avenue and Knorr St.

Kudos to the Pastor, Father Steve Wetzel, at St. Joachim,  Pete Specos of the 15th PDAC (Police District Advisory Council), Shop Rite and the officers of the 15th District for getting these weapons off the street.

It was election day Tuesday so attendance was off at the PSA1 meeting at Aria Health.  Sargent Al Ravel was filling in for Lt. Derrick Wood and spoke on the Quality of Life issues.  He also noted that

Sgt. Al Revel

the police are continuing the investigation into the problems at Foulkrod Street and Frankford Avenue.  Progress has been made but it remains a top priority of the PSA1.

So what kind of issue should you bring to the PSA meeting?  The kind of thing that is not an emergency at the minute but is an ongoing problem that the police should know about.  I noticed one reader posted on SeeClickFix a problem he was having with drugs being sold on his block.  Chances are when you call 911 and a car comes out the drug folks will have taken off.  If you bring that information to the PSA the Lt.  will be able to tackle it in a more systematic way.

The next meeting for PSA1 is scheduled for May 22nd at Aria Health at 7PM.  PSA1 services Frankford South of Bridge Street.

The next meeting for PSA2 is scheduled for May 17th at the Wissinoming Recreation Center (CHELTENHAM & HAWTHORNE) at 7PM.  PSA2 serves Frankford North of Bridge Street.

Lt. Derrick Wood met with concerned residents, business owners and civic leaders Friday night at the PSA1 meeting to deal with the never ending problem of violent drug dealers at Frankford Avenue and Foulkrod Street.  Shootings, violence, threats  and intimidation have become the norm in the last few months as drug wars have spilled over into the streets.  The Frankford Deli harbors the dealers during the day making the intersection ground zero for a quick high or a stray bullet. Video below is of the location after a recent shooting on the morning of March 19th.

Lt. Wood made it known that this problem is a priority for the PSA and the problem is being addressed.

There are a few corners in Frankford where you can go and obtain illegal drugs.  This should not be surprising.  Illegal drugs are everywhere, even in those pristine suburbs where many of our former neighbors have fled.  The difference is that in those suburbs the sales are conducted discretely indoors or they drive to Frankford to make their purchase and then flee back to the burbs to ingest.

The drug corners create what would be charitably called a quality of life issue.  In the Economist last week they had an interesting piece on strategies now being followed in some other cities to encourage drug dealers to retire from their careers in order to clean up the drug corners.

POLICE watched seven people sell drugs in Marshall Courts and Seven Oaks, two districts in south-eastern Newport News, in Virginia. They built strong cases against them. They shared that information with prosecutors. But then the police did something unusual: they sent the seven letters inviting them to police headquarters for a talk, promising that if they came they would not be arrested. Three came, and when they did they met not only police and prosecutors, but also family members, people from their communities, pastors from local churches and representatives from social-service agencies. Their neighbours and relatives told them that dealing drugs was hurting their families and communities. The police showed them the information they had gathered, and they offered the seven a choice: deal again, and we will prosecute you. Stop, and these people will help you turn your lives around.  This approach is known as drug-market intervention (DMI).

Does it work?  Too early to say.  What is interesting is that it is something different than what we are seeing in Philadelphia.  What we are seeing is not working.  The police will tell you that.  Mayor Nutter and DA Seth Williams know that.  What we need is something that works.  We are never going to stop people from using drugs just like Prohibition did not stop people from using alcohol.

Anybody with any new ideas, please step up to the plate.

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the original link to the Economist story.