Philadelphia - trying to address gun violence again

[ViperGTS19801]

I have not yet formed an opinion on this particular initiative yet, although I do have to admit that on the surface it seems like a much better idea than "gun buybacks" and attempts at unlawful legislation.

This morning on Good Day, a police officer from the 17th (he may have been a Sergeant or a Lieutenant or something, I don't recall) and a politician did an interview regarding their new initiative to try and get "illegal guns" (the media term for "firearms being carried illegally" ) off the streets. The concept is that, for the past few days as well as going forward, they are personally going door-to-door, talking to residents in the 17th District, in an attempt to get the community involved in policing themselves. Trying to get past the "Don't Snitch" mantra of the streets from the past decade or so, residents who provide information which leads to the arrest and conviction of UFA violations can lead to up to a $500 cash reward.

I have a few questions, and I am looking forward to more details coming out about this - I will post the video as soon as they put it on their site. Where is the money coming from to fund this? Will informants be protected from backlash? How many man hours are being taken away from other policework to make these visits happen, or is this actually helping to fill out his schedule a bit more?

Discuss.

[pokerguy005]

I have not yet formed an opinion on this particular initiative yet, although I do have to admit that on the surface it seems like a much better idea than "gun buybacks" and attempts at unlawful legislation.

This morning on Good Day, a police officer from the 17th (he may have been a Sergeant or a Lieutenant or something, I don't recall) and a politician did an interview regarding their new initiative to try and get "illegal guns" (the media term for "firearms being carried illegally" ) off the streets. The concept is that, for the past few days as well as going forward, they are personally going door-to-door, talking to residents in the 17th District, in an attempt to get the community involved in policing themselves. Trying to get past the "Don't Snitch" mantra of the streets from the past decade or so, residents who provide information which leads to the arrest and conviction of UFA violations can lead to up to a $500 cash reward.

I have a few questions, and I am looking forward to more details coming out about this - I will post the video as soon as they put it on their site. Where is the money coming from to fund this? Will informants be protected from backlash? How many man hours are being taken away from other policework to make these visits happen, or is this actually helping to fill out his schedule a bit more?

Discuss.

LIke they say.."snitches get stitches"..I just dont see many people ratting out their neighbors for fear of retribution all for $500.

[30Glock]

This stands a good chance at being successful, there is no loyalty between addicts, or the general populous for that matter. If one could make a phone call for a 500.00 payday, this just might work.

[mikelets456]

If someone sees something illegal going on, they should contact the authorities regardless.....it's ILLEGAL, Hence, against the law. It's amazing what's going on in society, now we have to pay people to do something they should be doing anyway?

Kind'a like sending a check each month for $100 to each person who does not steal, rob or cheat people. "Thank you sir for being an honest citizen... Here's $100".

[Shodan]

It seems like the same thing could be achieved by the police just being more present in the neighborhood and interacting with people daily to build a raport.

That's easy for me to say though, if I was a Philly cop I'd probably try to stay hunkered down in my car as much as possible too.

[Deleted]

It seems like the same thing could be achieved by the police just being more present in the neighborhood and interacting with people daily to build a raport.

That's easy for me to say though, if I was a Philly cop I'd probably try to stay hunkered down in my car as much as possible too.

That's the whole problem... the good old "beat cops" of the day that disappeared back in the late 50's ended the era of everyone knowing their local cops and the local cops knowing everything that was going on in the neighborhood. Cities like Philadelphia have for years attempted to implement different "Community Policing" programs in an attempt to regain that connection with the communities that need it the most.

A huge problem in Philly is not having enough officers. If on a Friday night you are running 4 hours behind answering calls for service, there is a problem. If you are taking crime reports over the phone from the same high crime residents you need to rebuild your relationship with...you have a problem. They have been dumbing down their services for.years take up for the fact that they don't have enough people to provide basic policing and investigative services to their residents.

So knocking on doors and offering money is a fine short term fix...but I agree with you its not going to make up for their not being a permanent fixture in the community.

[theshadow]

I'm in the computer industry. We like many other service industries have several "causes" for problems. Like when the early Pentium Computers came out, monitors started blowing left right and center. The monitor blowing was the symptom of something bigger. We could have done things like blame the monitor, or blame the P class chips, and some did. But what we did was called a Root Cause Analysis, found out that for reasons beyond our comprehension, dirty power was the cause of the issue, and with the use of surge protectors, and later building in solutions, this solved our problem.

SO what does this have to do with this post? As long as the politicians and criminals with badges (once they return to supporting and defending the Constitutions of the Commonwealth and the United States, they will no longer be criminals) continue to call it Gun Violence, they are ignoring the root cause of the issue, and anything they attempt will be a short term fix, but all will fail until the root cause is addressed.

[Mongo85]

And where would we collect our $500 from for PPD violating UFA? Sign me up for that payday!

[TheWolff]

I still don't think it would be as effective as instituting serious mandatory penalties for any crime involving the illegal possession or use of a gun in the commission of a felony.

[sprrdhawk44]

Yeah, the Gestapo in Nazi Germany was pretty big on the idea of "self-policing" as well.