Nutter's Hypocricy Continues

[OneLungMcClung]

Illegal gun seizures are down this year despite violating the 4th amendment...

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/loca...on_crime_.html

How's the mayor doing on crime?

By CATHERINE LUCEY
Philadelphia Daily News

luceyc@phillynews.com 215-854-4172
MAYOR NUTTER made crime-fighting a key part of his mayoral campaign, pledging to slash the homicide rate and to bring order to Philadelphia's streets.

Early last year, standing outside his West Philadelphia childhood home, he released a detailed public-safety plan - "The Nutter Plan for Safety Now: Ten Weeks to a Safer Philadelphia."

In it, Nutter promised to use stop-and-frisk policing to seize illegal guns, to hire 500 more cops over three years and to improve prisoner re-entry services.

How's he doing?

So far, the homicide rate is down this year compared with last year. There have been 76 murders through April 10, down from 107 during the same period last year.

But while homicides are down, crime continues. The city lately has been gripped by a spate of violent attacks - one of which left a man dead - in or near Center City SEPTA stations.

"That you wouldn't have anticipated," said C.B. Kimmins, of Mantua Against Drugs. "You've got kids out here who don't seem to care about the repercussions."

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey has incorporated some of Nutter's proposals into his crime plan. And Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison is also taking on some of the goals.

Perhaps Nutter's most audacious pledge was that he wouldn't run for re-election if, by 2010, he couldn't roll back the murder rate to its 2002 total of 288, the city's lowest since 1985.

Nutter, whose 100th day in office is tomorrow, said he still has a long way to go.

"I think things are certainly moving in the right direction," he said last week. "We're not satisfied with where things are and we're going to continue on a daily basis to drive crime down."

How has he done so far on his many crime-fighting pledges? Here's a review:

PLEDGE: Declare a crime emergency and set up "targeted enforcement zones" with emergency powers where cops can limit gatherings, halt vehicles or establish curfews.

REALITY: Nutter did declare a crime emergency on his first day in office. And Ramsey has set up nine "targeted enforcement zones," which are getting extra police manpower. But they are not using emergency powers to limit crowds or set curfews.

The emergency powers aren't necessary for now, Nutter said, but he could change his mind in the future. "We always reserve the right to utilize those powers," he said.

PLEDGE: Promote stop-and-frisk as a way to seize illegal guns. Despite this being a 4th amm. violation

REALITY: According to data provided by the Police Department, pedestrian stops are way up this year over last year. From Jan. 1 to March 10 there were 34,325 stops, an increase of more than 50 percent above the 22,939 stops in the same period last year.

But gun confiscations actually declined slightly - 925 this year, versus 980 during the same period last year.
Nutter said that the lower number of gun confiscations might mean that fewer people are carrying illegal weapons.

So why do we need the new "laws" again?!?!?

PLEDGE: Get money for more security cameras

REALITY: In Ramsey's crime plan, he promised to expand surveillance cameras from 26 to 250 by Dec. 31. Mayor Street had made the same pledge last year. Nutter said they'll get it done.

PLEDGE: Pursue fugitives with arrest warrants.

REALITY: Earlier this year, Ramsey and Nutter publicized a list of 150 fugitives, asking citizens for help tracking them down. That effort has continued. As of April 4, according to police data, there were warrants out for 269 fugitives, 74 of whom had been captured.

PLEDGE: Establish a public-safety Cabinet.

REALITY: Gillison is charged with setting up a Criminal Justice Advisory Board, or CJAB, which will include leaders from all criminal justice arms including the district attorney and the police commissioner. Gillison said plans for the CJAB are under way and he expects to officially kick off in June or July and has already begun seeking grant funding for projects.

PLEDGE: Will invest in a prisoner re-entry program.

REALITY: Nutter has appointed a director of Mayor's Office for the Reentry of Ex-Offenders. Before he took office, Nutter proposed a program to provide $10,000 tax credits to employers who hire ex-offenders. That legislation was introduced by Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. and passed late last year.

PLEDGE: Will hire the best person in the nation to be police commissioner.

REALITY: Nutter hired Ramsey, former top cop in Washington, D.C., who oversaw crime reductions in the nation's capital. His crime plan puts more cops on the streets, but it's too early to judge his performance.

*Just so you all know: Ramsey didn't "lower crime" in DC. What he did was he gentrified the area, worked closely with city hall and the Mayor to raise the property costs and rents. This had the effect of displacing many of the poorer and lower income folks who, oddly enough, were the source of the crime. Crime dropped in DC and went up in surrounding communities. Imagine that! I'm not impressed.*

PLEDGE: Will establish a 3-1-1 call center for nonemergency calls.

REALITY: Managing Director Camille Barnett has been put in charge of this daunting task, which she says will happen by the end of the year. But there's been no hard data on what it will cost or how it will be funded. Nutter said the city is looking at private funding sources, as well as state and federal dollars, but he wouldn't disclose any definite funding plans.

PLEDGE: Hire 500 new cops in three years.

REALITY: Nutter has backed off this promise. His five-year plan includes money for a net gain of 200 cops. And Ramsey has pledged to have 200 more cops on the street by May 1, through redeployment from other duties.

Nutter said the five-year plan could be updated to reflect his campaign promise. But he also said "whether it's 500 new hires or 500 more on the street, the point of the proposal was to have 500 more on the street."

I hate this man.

PLEDGE: Will work with City Council to pass local gun laws and test their constitutionality in the state.

REALITY: Nutter last week signed a package of gun bills into law and says he will enforce them, even though the state Supreme Court has ruled that Philadelphia lacks the authority to set its own gun laws. It looks like this will be headed to court.
Grrr

[LittleRedToyota]

nutter was on one of the sunday morning news shows this past sunday (can't remember which one...we were flipping from one to another).

the topic of conversation was obama's recent "people cling to guns and religion because they are depressed" or whatever debacle.

nutter was saying how obama was wrong and how there is a long standing tradition of legal PA gun ownership, etc. and implied that it was a good and healthy thing. he actually sounded like he was pro-gun. i couldn't believe it.

i saw a similar interview with fast eddie where he also cited how pennsylvanians have a long history and tradition of legal gun ownership...and so everyone should vote for hillary instead of obama.

these guys will say absolutely anything that is politically expedient...even if is the complete opposite of all their previous gandstanding and political maneuvers. i would say i have lost any remaining respect for both men, but i didn't have any left to lose...