Captain John McCloskey, commander of the 15th police district, spent almost the entire hour of the Frankford Civic association taking questions and giving frank answers. The Town Hall meeting back on September 19th appears to have activated a lot of people. There were 38 attending the meeting on Thursday, October 3rd which included many new folks.
- He apologized for the fact that there were no police at the recent PSA meeting.
- Slow police response time for 911 calls is a reality which McCloskey says is the result of needing more cops. 7 new officers are due from the next graduating class which will help. Lower priority goes to quality of life issues so sometimes you are going to wait quite a while before you see an officer.
- Foot patrols have been cut back due to the lack of manpower.
- Worth Street between Margaret and Orthodox is a hot spot that is on his list. Drug activity is ongoing with many out of state cars coming to do business.
- There has been some improvement on the 4700 block of Griscom due to recent arrests.
- If you feel you have not bee treated properly by one of his officers, you should contact him directly. He wants to know.
Some residents who met at the town hall and psa meetings are organizing together on common issues and to support the police. The group may lobby for more police in the 15th, ask for more video cameras at crime locations, go to SEPTA and the city for better lighting under the el, find out why SEPTA police do not do more patrolling of the area around the el stops, have L&I inspectors go out on weekend inspections with the police of problem bars, etc.
Captain McCloskey says the best thing you can do to help the police is to supply information. You identity will remain anonymous. You can call the district at 215-686-3150. Ask for Captain McCloskey.
The next meeting of the Frankford Civic Association will be on November 7th at 7PM at Aria Hospital.
