Currently, there is one. There's a plan to expand it to six in January.
I'm sorry. Ronald George, Department of Human Services, Project Manager for Violence Prevention Initiatives. We currently have one curfew center that will start in South Philadelphia in July. We will open up an additional five curfew centers in January of 2007. And the goal is to open up an additional six and bring it up to twelve by July of 2007 to cover the entire city.
And the 99 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 ones that are being opened in January, where are they, roughly?
Yes. What we did was, we targeted the areas that had the highest numbers of shootings. In conjunction with the Police Department, we looked at the areas where there were the most shootings throughout the city, and those are the areas that are getting these curfew centers first.
Can you tell us where? Do you have the list with you?
Yeah. In general, in the 12th Police District; the 15th Police District; the 22nd and 23rd, which are north, which is the third center; the 39th Police District, which 100 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 will include three sectors of the 35th, which will be the fourth center; and fifth area is the 25th Police District, inclusive of P sector for the 24th District.
Thank you for your testimony. Lt. Healy. (Witnesses come forward.)
Hi. Identify yourself. LT. HEALY: Good afternoon. My name is Francis Healy, and I'm Special Advisor for Police Commissioner Johnson. 101 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 At the outset, thank you for letting us, the Philadelphia Police Department, comment on this legislation. Let me just say that the intent of this legislation is fully supported by the Philadelphia Police Department, without a doubt. There's no higher duty for both City Council and for the Police Department than the protection of our children. Accordingly, I would like to respectfully take the time to address each part of the amendment and comment on how it would affect police actions on the street. While I believe most of the amendments would simplify the curfew procedure, there are some amendments that could interfere with police operations or reduce current discretion available to police officers, and I'll touch on them briefly, and I don't think they're major obstacles. The first obvious change in the 102 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 ordinance would be the bifurcation of curfew times between minors under 4 years of age and those at ages 13 to 17. 5 This is an excellent idea. 6 As we all know, children under 7 the age of 13 have no business being out 8 and about late at night. While they are 9 clearly targeted by adults due to their 10 immaturity, they are -- they also 11 succumb to the peer pressure of older 12 juveniles. 13 As a case in point, I recently attended a hearing for a friend's child who's 12 years old, who was caught setting small fires behind a bowling alley up in the Northeast. " And that drives home, I think, the importance of this program. Consequently, the bifurcated curfew times between very young children and the older juveniles is a very good 103 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 idea. Now let me just turn now to the conduct of the parents. The proposed amendments drastically simplify the requirements of parents in the city, which is definitely a good thing, so they understand what their obligations are. However, in the course of simplifying the legislation, a valuable exemption currently in the code seems to have been lost. This exemption, which is currently Chapter 10, Section 304, Subsection 3, has been completely deleted. Specifically, this provision allows for an exemption to any parent who accompanies a minor or to a parent who directs a minor upon an errand or other legitimate business or to a parent of a minor engaged in gainful, lawful employment during curfew hours. As we all know, nothing is absolute; and exemptions, while not the norm, should 104 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 be available in any well-balanced legislation. Next is, the responsibility of the owners and operators of establishments has been simplified. This, too, is a very good thing. Individuals who personally profit off of juveniles after curfew hours should be held accountable. While these operators may be able to somewhat protect juveniles in their facilities in the same manner as they could any other business invitee, they have no control once a juvenile leaves. Establishments that are known to cater to minors after curfew hours, in essence, create an attractive nuisance. They imminently endanger the children who frequent these locations. As such, the Police Department believes the increased penalty provisions and the possibility of a business license revocation are entirely appropriate and suitable. 105 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 I'm turning now to the enforcement issues surrounding the proposed amendments. I understand that there's been much concern on how the police will enforce a bifurcated curfew system. Most of the concerns I've heard involve whether such a system would, as a consequence, require children to carry identification. This is not the case whatsoever. The police currently enforce the curfew ordinance without any such requirements and will be able to continue to do so even with a bifurcated system.
Nothing has really changed from a police perspective. We're currently enforcing the under-17-years-of-age requirement without requiring all juveniles to carry identification. The same will hold true in the proposed version. Before a police officer can transport or cite an individual, even a 106 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 child -- more importantly, a child -- probable cause must exist. Probable cause are facts and circumstances which would lead the police officer to believe the individual has committed or committing an offense or a violation. Thus, an officer on the street must do an investigation, no matter how brief, to determine if the child is in violation of the curfew laws; whether they're under or over 13, it makes no 13 difference. 14 The difference will be those 15 stops by police based on reasonable 16 suspicion. As it stands, police 17 officers are justified in stopping a person after curfew hours if he reasonably believes they are less than 18 years of age. m. during the week and 12:00 midnight on the weekends. As a result of the proposed amendment, the police would now be authorized to 107 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 stop minors who they reasonably believe are less than years of age after 4 9 o'clock during the week and after 5 10 o'clock on the weekends. 6 If, after the investigation, a 7 child is in violation of the ordinance, 8 appropriate action will be taken; but if 9 the child is older than 13, he would 10 promptly be released, just as if he were 11 an adult in the old scenario. 12 Turning lastly to the 13 penalties. The Department supports the overall increase in penalties for any violation of the curfew code. As I mentioned, the increase in penalties for business owners is completely appropriate. The Department would only offer one suggestion. As it stands, minors who violate the curfew law can be sentenced to community service in lieu of monetary fines. This is a great provision. However, it may serve the 108 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 purpose of these overall amendments to include such a provision for the parents as well. The reasoning is twofold: Many parents in the city will not be able to afford the fines, and those that can may just write a check without any care whatsoever. Accordingly, the availability of community service should also be available to parents. Parents who cannot afford these fines can avoid becoming scofflaws, and parents with means will need to sacrifice valuable time. Both can have a positive impact on the minors who actually caused the problem for their parents. Actually knowing the parent has to do manual labor because of their actions may go much farther than any fine that could be levied. I would like to make one more suggestion, actually, which is certainly going to need work, and this is actually 109 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 from personal experience as well. There are many parents in the city who have uncontrollable children, quite frankly. There single parents torn between making a living and being home, trying to take care of their children. These are impossible situations. In these situations, resources should be available to the parent to help them. Continually fining the parents of an uncontrollable minor is really pointless, and we need to give those parents additional help, and I'm not really sure where the help should come from, but it should be recognized. Mostly, I think this is probably the biggest impacts on the Police Department. The proposed amendment has deleted one of the options that is currently available to police officers on the street, which we believe is critical in effectively enforcing the actual ordinance. 110 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 Specifically, the current ordinance allows police officers, among other things, to order the minor to go home immediately. Under the proposal, this discretion has been removed.
In essence, the police officer must transport the minor home or to a police station for processing. While this may seem petty, we must be remembering that we're dealing with children who are incredibly impressionable and who range widely in maturity. Many times officers on the street know which children will go home as home and those that will not. Forcing all children into a police car, when many could more easily run home, serves no purpose. Taking this discretion away from the officer is akin to taking an element of the force away. It's an element the officers use on the street, and we're actually taking a tool. " This make a very big difference on the street. I would strongly recommend that this discretion remain in the proposed ordinance, especially since we will be dealing with younger and younger children as a result of the bifurcated system. As I mentioned at the beginning, there is no higher duty for both City Council and the Police Department than to protect our children, so the Police Department fully supports the intent of this legislation and hopes this committee will support some of the minor recommendations suggested prior to any passage. This concludes my testimony. And, obviously, I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Thank 112 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 you. Thank you for testifying. Councilwoman Reynolds-Brown.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, and thank you for the support of this bill. One of the critical factors for consideration is the potential impediment in the enforcement of the curfew measures. LT. HEALY: Right.
So has the Department looked at that? Because only then does it mean anything. LT. HEALY: Correct. Councilwoman, quite frankly, the change in the ages makes no distinction for the Police Department. We enforce the current ordinance, which is 17 and under, and we don't require -- there's no mandatory requirement for anyone to have identification on their persons. So officers will make stops after the curfew hour based on a 113 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 reasonable suspicion. Basically, if the kid looks like a young kid, then he gets stopped. If he proves to be an adult, he's released. If not, he's taken in. And if later it's determined that he's a juvenile, he's released.
Okay. LT. HEALY: Oftentimes, our police officers on the street are much smarter than a lot of people give them credit for. They do the brief investigation on the street, they throw a few dates out there: "When were you born?"
Okay. LT. HEALY: It's very easy to trip up a juvenile. The next thing you know, they're saying they're 42 years old, and you got 'em there. So that's really not a problem.
Okay. LT. HEALY: I don't think it will be any harder. It actually may be a little easier with the younger 114 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 children 'cause they're not quite as quick with the math yet.
Then the second question is around establishments honoring the measures of this legislation. A is, you know, we can't hold anyone responsible for that which we have not brought to their attention. So whose responsibility is it to make sure establishments are aware of this? And then the enforcement: Where's the trigger for L&I? LT. HEALY: I think the trigger of this legislation. The enactment of this legislation is public notice of what's expected of all business owners and entities in the city. Once this gets enacted and passed, this is public knowledge right here. There's no ignorance of the law; it's not acceptable. So what would happen is -- and I'm sure after the first couple of 115 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 times, there's going to be warnings issued; we're not looking to crush business owners from doing their business, but we also don't want these juveniles to be congregating in certain places. And everyone in the neighborhood knows where to go after midnight, the young kids.
Mm-hmm. LT. HEALY: And we understand that that attracts the problems, that attracts the shootings, the violence that happens to these children. So I think once the word's out through this hearing, once the legislation is passed, the public press, that is notice that this is in effect. Once it's passed, it's published in, I believe, several papers, and that gives it all the notification we need to enforce -- from L&I's perspective as well as the Police Department's. 116 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441
Thank you for the response. The Police Department notifies L&I that an establishment is open beyond the hours stipulated in this bill? LT. HEALY: Well, luckily for the city, both entities have equal enforcement authority under the code.
Oh. LT. HEALY: This is a business. Businesses obviously can enforce -- I'm sorry. L&I can obviously enforce any business regulations set on business, but as an overall blanket, the Police Department is also equally able to enforce. All along --
So the Police Department can give a fine to a business that's open beyond the hours in this -- LT. HEALY: We can, yes. We can cite them. Now, the question is: Will we be giving them a code violation 117 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 notice?
Okay. LT. HEALY: So we're not going to be handcuffing anybody and taking 'em in to headquarters, but we are authorized to issue code violation notices, and we actually have begun doing them for some of the takeout places that are in residential zones --
Okay. Then, lastly, does the Police Department maintain a record, a log of some kind that speaks to the activity you just described so that we can see what the future looks like based on records? LT. HEALY: The Police Department as a whole doesn't track businesses that allow minors to frequent. The captains in each division are held accountable through the COMPSTAT process, and they often very 118 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 well know where the problems are. And actually decentralizing the authority of the captain to be able to spot kids problems -- "hot areas," I'll say is really the best manner. Because if it was done downtown in my office, it's kind of sanitized.
Sure. LT. HEALY: The captain on the street, he deals with the issues, 'cause a lot of times, the crime problems are going to emanate from these locations.
Okay. LT. HEALY: So he's come to me in the past, saying, "I have problems here," and we're doing that now with some of the takeout locations that stay open past 11:00. We're using that creatively, making sure we have the residential block base. And if they're in that residential block base, takeouts have to close at 11:00.
And so do you keep a record of how many times you 119 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 get a phone call that "Establishment X" is staying open past -- LT. HEALY: Yeah, I can do a repeat-call analysis through my police radio system.
Okay. LT. HEALY: Like the captains will do that. And, actually, for domestic violence situations, all types of situations, the victim-assistance officers in the districts will track certain things 'cause they will see the same numbers coming up on their district control report numbers. And what they'll do is, if there's numerous calls from one location, the victim-assistance officer will go to that house to see if there's anything proactively that he or she can do. The same thing can be done with this as well.
Uh-huh. 120 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 Okay. All right then. Okay. I'll leave it there the from now. A year from now, we'll look to see what the impact has been of this measure. Thanks again for your testimony. LT. HEALY: If we alone cite it, I can probably track the citations that we wrote, but it will probably be not just the Police Department; it will also be L&I, so my numbers may not be completely accurate.
The beauty of that is, if you track what you just described and then you stack that against what's happening with young people in that area -- are there fewer homicides? is there less truancy? are you arresting many more young people around curfew? -- then you can see some connect, some thread of impact. Do you follow me? LT. HEALY: Absolutely. And 121 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 actually, that's the heart and soul of our COMPSTAT process.
Okay. LT. HEALY: What happens, the captains are held, as Councilman Rizzo's well aware, very accountable, and it's geographically. What happens is, every week, hot districts are put on the screen and then you can see the hot areas.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. LT. HEALY: And the captain says, "Listen, you've had the same problem for three weeks. What are you doing?" And what happens is, the captains are becoming extremely creative and coming out and are actually reaching out to lawyers like myself to turn around and say, "Listen, here's my problem. Is there anything you can do to help me?" And we're helping them along 122 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 different lines administratively. We'll work with L&I. If it's a problem bar in that location, we work with L&I and the LCB and the state police, and we work as a team.
Okay. LT. HEALY: The same concept would apply here without a doubt.
Okay. There are some who would use the word "accountability," the accountability is tighter and stronger, so it forces folk to think and act differently. LT. HEALY: Absolutely. Well, the captains are individually held to a very high standard. They're grilled basically.
Okay. LT. HEALY: And they're grilled on everything that's going on in their geographical area. That's why I'm saying the captain will know where his problems are. If he knows he's having problems 123 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 with juveniles, he's trying to find some way to get the juveniles out of that location.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I think one of the other rewards of the curfew system and the curfew centers, actually, is the young people that are there are offered services right there, which is really good. And when Dr. Evans was here with his testimony, he talked about how many were actually referred, and I think that's good. You have 'em there, you understand they're out, something's happening at home when they should be at home. LT. HEALY: Right, exactly.
And the 124 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 city services are right there to step in and lend a hand, which I think is a good part of the whole curfew center structure. LT. HEALY: Right. With one caveat. Right now, it's the discretion of the police officer to tell the child to go home. Especially with and 10 under children, they're down at the 11 corner where they shouldn't be with a 12 bunch of kids. The police officer pulls 13 up. They know them. I mean, I knew the kids in my sectors. Go home. And if I see you out here again -- I really wouldn't want to have had to drag them in the car, because the minute they pull away or they push the police officer, it escalates things that don't necessarily need to be escalated.
Mm-hmm. LT. HEALY: It's really not criminal activity at that point.
Right. 125 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 LT. HEALY: It's just being a kid.
Right. LT. HEALY: And the officer is there to do the job, but that's a piece of discretion that really shouldn't be removed.
Right, 'cause they do know the children. LT. HEALY: Right.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. LT. HEALY: Thank you.
And Nancy Womack, after them, you're next, okay? After these gentlemen, this woman. Hi, good afternoon.
Good afternoon. My name is James Jones and I'm (indiscernible) with (indiscernible) 126 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 Consulting, and I certainly want to thank Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds for inviting me here this afternoon to give my testimony. And I certainly want to thank everybody here for the good efforts that's been put into looking at how our communities can be improved with some of the social strategies that's being undergone. ), who's my Vice President of Security Operations. He's retired from the Philadelphia Police Department. And to my left is Joe (indiscernible), who's the president of (indiscernible), which is our camera surveillance technology piece. If I may approach the Council I certainly would like to get some information to you. Thank you very much. What I'm passing out to you is just some handout information that 127 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 certainly gives you a bit more detailed information about what my brief testimony will be about. About 98 percent of what I will share with you this afternoon is about solutions in the brief moments that I will talk, and the other 2 percent will be simply about administrative-type functions. You know, the Councilwoman, asked me to talk specifically about some of the technologies that are available in this particular area if we're going at some of the curfew centers. And I realize that curfew is one of the anti-crime programs that the City of Philadelphia is trying to do. I certainly would like to just simply address how the technology has improved very the years. Smart cards are one part of technology that's been around about ten years or so, and the other part is the biometrics and facial recognition, which is what you have in 128 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 your handout. Biometrics and facial recognition is state-of-the-art technology, and it's the best thing that has happened because it helps to eliminate any kind of fraud or misuse. What biometric technology is about is facial recognition. For biometrics, you've got fingerprint, which have been around for quite some time. You've had signatures, which people have been signing documents for quite a few years. Facial recognition, which is relatively new. And then you have iris and signatories that certainly help to capture image. And those images can be carried over for a number of years; they're carried in a database that allows you to see what is going on, what has happened in a facility. And let me make it real simple. Biometric is simply a camera system that's in a position that allows you to 129 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 identify people coming in and out. For example, if you're in an airport, you see people coming down the escalators, you want to know if there's a person of interest. Biometrics will identify that person, send out a message, send out a signal, an alert, and it will say to you there's a person of interest. Under the circumstances, you're going to have one curfew center now, and you're going to have 11 more to come. How effective this would be in that enrollment for a kiosk for a biometrics camera can take anywhere between 60 to 90 seconds. In other words, in less than a minute and a half, you can have a person enrolled at a biometric center. If under 18, you're not required to have any form of identification other than, you know, whatever might be required in the school system. And with this system, it allows you to track people coming and going in 130 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 and out of your curfew centers. That will allow you to get them registered and allow you to track them. And if there is an incident that takes place either inside or outside the curfew center, it certainly allows you to be able to have current, realtime events that are taking place, and that information can be tracked and monitored at any time. Again, you have eye scans where you look at the retinas, iris. Those are positive identification methods.
Voiceprints, those are positive identification methods. Hand geometries, palm (indiscernible), fingerprints, facial recognition, those are all pieces that, you know, are only assigned to one person. Whereas if you look at a card, a smart card, a smart card is small, just like a credit card, and I could take your credit card or your smart card, and you could take mine, and we 131 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 could interchange them around and actually create some abuse if necessary. But the only way to have sophisticated and accurate reflection of who is who and how you can be able to track people and to be able to know exactly -- you know, they don't have to have an active participation or an active cooperation. You can take a person's picture as soon as they enter inside a room with this biometrics system it. Tracks moving human traffic, and it certainly can track multiple subjects at the same time. And it's exciting technology, because years ago, when Dick Tracy would speak into his wristwatch, we would think that was so unique to read that in the comic strips. And then we saw James Bond doing so many other wonderful things. But now that technology is right here and it's available. And it 132 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 certainly can help with a number of different challenges in crime-fighting and to help with some of the curfew centers that you are proposing to put out around the community.
It did work. This biometric system also helps with the time and attendance in tracking for not only staff but also getting, as I mentioned earlier, student interactions and identification systems that are not mandated by federal laws or by state laws. Again, curfews and truancy might, in my opinion, they kind of go hand in hand, because if you have someone who's having some nocturnal activities, they're probably going to be skipping school or getting in some kind of trouble anyways. But now you're able to track them, especially if they're truant. And 133 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 if they're around some the curfew centers, you can certainly track them with positive identification on the individuals that are being tracked. In other words, they can't say, "Well,I need to go home to get my identification card" or "I lost my I.D. card on the basketball court." When that person walks inside the center and the database that's being currently used, you can be able to identify within less than four seconds of that individual or any individual that will walk inside of a curfew center. Now, the most critical thing to remember about this is, it's very accurate. A lot of people may not like this kind of technology because it's going to hold them accountable for their actions -- not only staff and employees, but the individuals that are being tracked. Again, my name is James Jones, 134 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 and I appreciate your allowing me the opportunity to speak before you at this hearing, and I will certainly take any of your questions at this time. Or if you have any questions for Joe for some of the camera surveillance or even John Hargraves.
Thank you again very, very much for your testimony. As I indicated, the issue of identification of the age of a young person was a question raised when we first introduced this bill. And given the testimony of the Police Department, we're at a better place in knowing that they have their own in-house methods, if you will, of how they will get to the base of the answer. So thanks again for your very important testimony, gentlemen. 135 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441
Certainly, certainly. Again, Councilwoman, just to reiterate, with this system, you certainly don't have to have any identification cards at all. When a person walks inside, you get their face -- their picture taken, they become trackable within that database right there on the spot. And you could also look at different centers. If a person goes from one center to the next, they can pull them up from all of those different centers to be able to access it and say, "Is this person who they really say that they are?" And you can be able to use all -- it will give you at least a 75 percent of accuracy with less than 4-second pictures that will pop up. And it will tell you exactly whether it's this person, this person, or that person. It's like a lineup so to speak, 136 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 and you know exactly who that person is, and they're not even required to have the identification.
Thank you very much. I believe you have Nancy Womack next? (Witness comes forward.)
Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Council Chairwoman Miller, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown, and all of the other members of City Council. My name is Nancy Womack, I'm employed with the School District of Philadelphia, and I'm a contributing writer to our community newspaper, The 137 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 Southwest (indiscernible), and I'm a block captain of my street. I also teach proper mannerisms and etiquette to children. I support Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown's legislation to institute a curfew for children and 9 under. I feel that children this age 10 should be in their homes at this hour. 11 Their parents should no where they are 12 what they're doing. At this hour, 13 children should be in their homes studying, doing homework assignments, preparing for the next day of school, doing household chores, and hopefully some good quality family time. This curfew will help to deter crimes that our children might become involved in and lessen crime and violence that may be committed against them. This legislation will also help to improve children's grades in school and school attendance. 138 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 It will afford them to be in bed at a decent hour well rested for school. The more interest that our children develop towards their education, the less truant they will become. There are many reasons for truancy and school boredom. We have to delve into these reasons and find out why. Programs should be developed for students that would keep them interested, inspired, and motivating them to focus seriously on their education. There is a need to improve the climate of some schools. Students should have a conducive learning environment, more parental involvement is needed in our children's lives, and we also need more parental involvement in the schools. We need more varied types of after-school programs and schools that offer some type of Saturday programs. 139 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 I say all of this but I can't stress enough that parents should get more involved with their children and their schools. With this curfew, when amended, we will need the support and the help of parents, police officers, and the community. Everyone will have to get involved. I feel that this curfew legislation is a good thing for our children because it will save their lives in many, many ways -- literally. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Miss Womack. thank you, and we really appreciate you coming to testify.
I just wanted to echo the Chairlady's comments. As a block captain, we appreciate you just paying attention and then taking the time to come in and 140 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 060441 register your voice on this matter.
Are there any questions from committee members of this witness. (No questions.)
Are there any other witnesses who wish to testify on any of these bills today? (No response.)
Seeing none, this concludes the public hearing on the Committee of Public Safety. * * * 141 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY PUBLIC MEETING
We will now go into our public meeting. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke for an amendment.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I have actually an amendment -- it's actually two separate amendments to Bill No. 060804. I believe those amendments have been circulated to the committee. Essentially, the amendments call for the language on , Section 15 D, it deletes "by allowing," and then the new language will be "if an adult intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or with criminal negligence allows a child to obtain," and then it goes on from there and that's in D. And also, on the same page, we're adding the language "handling" of that particular statute, 'cause we believe by inserting the language "handling," it will allow the City of 142 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY PUBLIC MEETING Philadelphia to impose both criminal and civil penalty without State authorization. There is some additional language in H. Under the current provision, the way the bill is written, the penalization applied to the child would be as an adult. We changed the language and are incorporating "Violation of this section by a child shall constitute a delinquent act as defined by the Juvenile Act Pennsylvania CS6802, and shall be punishable according to the provision of that subchapter." So essentially, that young person would be subject to the laws associated with juveniles and not the laws associated with an adult. So I would ask that a member of the committee officially offer those amendments to Bill No. 060804.
Okay. Councilman Greenlee. 143 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY PUBLIC MEETING
Madam Chair, I move the two amendments that Councilman Clarke has presented to Bill 5 No. 060804. (Motion seconded.)
Okay. All in favor? Opposed? Okay, the amendment passes. Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure we had a quorum with Councilman Rizzo over there. Okay. Councilman Greenlee, I'm calling on you again to move the bill as amended.
Madam Chair, I move that Bill No. 060084, as amended, be reported out of this committee with a favorable recommendation and that the rules be suspended to allow for first reading at the next Council session. (Motion seconded.)
All in 144 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY PUBLIC MEETING favor? Those opposed? Okay. The bill is approved, as amended. Councilwoman Krajewski, can we get a motion on Bill No. 060441?
Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. I move that Bill No. 060441 be reported out of this committee with a favorable recommendation and that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. (Motion seconded.)
All in favor? Opposed? The bill is approved. Thank you. Councilwoman Krajewski.
Madam Chairwoman, I move that Bill No. 060700 be reported out of this committee with a 145 12/5/06 PUBLIC SAFETY PUBLIC MEETING favorable recommendation and that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at the next session of Council. (Motion seconded.)
All in favor? All opposed? Okay, Bill No. 060700 has been reported out of this committee favorably. Just for the record, 060856 was asked to be held by its sponsor. Okay. I want to thank all of the committee members for their attendance, and this concludes the hearing on this. 146 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings of the City of Philadelphia Council Committee on Public Safety are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me on Tuesday, December 5, 2006, and that this is a true and correct statement of same. __________________________________ JOSEPHINE CARDILLO Registered Professional Reporter (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)