The PSA meeting on April 24th was almost without police presence until Lt. Tony Burton strode in, having been delayed on other police business.
Prior to his arrival, residents discussed the ongoing problems with drugs on the 4700 block of Griscom Street. Pete Specos noted that SEPTA has been installing improved street lighting at the Margaret-Orthodox el stop intersection with Oxford Avenue.
Burton then remained after the normal end time of the meeting to discuss other issues. On the issue of dividing the 15th District into two separate districts, he says that would only make sense if both districts were adequately staffed. It is the number of police officers available for patrol that is the problem. The police department is now recruiting in other states trying to bring in new officers.
He made a point about police response time by calling to find how many jobs were in the queue at 8:11 PM that night. There were 11 pending which meant that the lowest priority job might see a unit dispatched to that call in about 58 minutes. That is assuming that no other higher priority jobs came in. They need more officers to do a better job.
He noted that the 15th district is likely to get some new officers out of the next graduating class but how many is yet to be determined.
The next PSA1 meeting has not yet been scheduled.
