COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING AND PUBLIC MEETING BEFORE COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH & WELFARE - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, December 13, 1999 10:55 a.m. - - - RES. 990615 - Authorizing the City Council's Committee on Public Safety to hold a public hearing to investigate the possibility of changing the existing procurement process for salvers that pick up abandoned automobiles through a procurement process that creates or requests a proposal system for each police district. RES. 990775 - Authorizing the Committee of Public Safety to hold hearings on the efficacy of the investigation of prosecution of sex crimes in the City, including, but not limited to, the practices and procedures of the Philadelphia Police Department's Special Victim Unit's use of the non-offense code 2701 and code 2625. PRESENT: COUNCILMAN ANGEL L. ORTIZ, Chair COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER - - - VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 561-2220 12/13/99 PUBLIC HEALTH & WELFARE I N D E X (No appearances by witnesses.) 12/13/99 PUBLIC HEALTH - RES. 990615 P R O C E E D I N G S
Good morning, good morning. We're Councilwoman Donna Miller, Councilman Jim Kenny and Councilman David Cohen. And this is the City Council Public Safety Committee to hold a public meeting on Resolutions No. 990615 and 990775. Councilman Clarke submitted a report to this committee for which he seeks approval. I will read the report into the record. "I would like to thank Councilman Angel Ortiz in his capacity as Chairman of the Public Safety Committee and all of the Councilmembers for giving me the opportunity to comment on the resolution. Over the past couple of years, Philadelphia streets have been inundated with abandoned automobiles. The Police Department reported in 1998 that over 23,000 abandoned automobiles had been removed. However, many citizens feel that for every car removed, several show up in its place. "Abandoned automobiles create a variety of problems. For many people, they are the most concentrated, visible and pervasive sign 4 12/13/99 PUBLIC HEALTH - RES. 990615 of urban blight. It is not uncommon for abandoned automobiles to serve trash receptacle, a hideaway for drugs and weapons, a target for vandalism, and, sadly, a fire hazard. Worse yet, while many of these cars are concentrated in several neighborhoods throughout the City, few neighborhoods do not have abandoned automobiles on its streets. "Three sets of overlapping sets of law regulate the removal of abandoned automobiles: the federal consent decree, state law, and local law. A cohesive approach should be taken to streamline the existing laws to remove any disincentives that the current system places on salvagers. Mayor Rendell and State Representative Evans' proposal to raise the fees that State law allows for towing abandoned automobiles is a step in the right direction. Moreover, the City Solicitor's promise to vacate the federal court consent decree also helps to simplify the maze of existing laws. "From a municipal and administrative standpoint, I propose two major changes. First, abandoned automobiles should be viewed as a 5 12/13/99 PUBLIC HEALTH - RES. 990615 sanitation problem with criminal side effects rather than a criminal problem with sanitation side effects. All too often, these cars constitute the largest type of bulk trash on the streets of Philadelphia. This paradigm shift should take the primary responsibility of taking abandoned automobiles out of the hands of the Police Department. Such a change would give the Police Department more officers to help with crime-fighting efforts. "One of the current emphases of the existing law is to protect victims of stolen cars. However, the Police Department can easily distinguish between stolen cars and abandoned automobiles. Therefore, it is possible to simultaneously protect the interest of the victims of stolen automobiles without affecting the City's ability to remove abandoned automobiles. "Second, this process requires a greater deal of coordination between City departments. Police operations, like Sunrise, derive much of their success from the strong, efficient coordination of multiple City departments. 6 12/13/99 PUBLIC HEALTH - RES. 990615 "One current loophole in the process shows the impact of this process. For example, if an abandoned automobile is on a privately-owned vacant lot and filled with trash, then the abandoned auto officer may not site the car, because it is on private property. For the same reason, the Sanitation Department will also refuse to clean the car. Compounding the problem, the salvager will not remove the car because it contains debris. Therefore, the car can sit for years without being moved. Greater coordination amongst City departments will create a more proactive environment to stop the flood of new abandoned automobiles and the more efficient and expedience removal of existing abandoned automobiles. "My current proposal, as embodied in this resolution, is to create a Request for Proposal process for each police district.
Currently, salvagers pick and choose the vehicles that they want to remove. This proposal would give a set fee for salvagers to remove all of the cars in a particular district. Commissioner Applebaum of Procurement testified that this 7 12/13/99 PUBLIC HEALTH - RES. 990615 proposal is feasible and could be implemented today. Therefore, someone would be immediately accountable for any abandon automobile on the street. " A more full set of recommendations will be given to Council on Thursday from Councilman Clarke, and we will have that approved at that session. Do I hear a motion for Councilman Clarke's proposal to be approved.
Councilman Clarke's proposal having been moved to be reported out of this committee and before City Council, having been moved and seconded, I ask for a vote. All those in favor say aye? Nay? The ayes have it. On Friday, I handed out at the meeting 8 12/13/99 PUBLIC HEALTH - RES. 990775 of City Council's Committee on Public Safety initiatives on Resolution 990775, and these -- some of the initiatives included a review of the cases for the past five years assigned to the investigation of persons, Code 2701, and the medical transportation Code 2625. There's been an agreement to develop a new classification coding category within the system. And the Women's Law Project and Women Organized Against Rape support having a person of choice with them throughout the processing of the complaints. The public safety committee is particularly appreciative of all of my colleagues who participated in the hearings and of the Police Department's commitment to working with the advocacy groups to improve the response to sex crimes. Therefore, based on the testimony and all of the information provided at the public hearing, I ask for a motion for the Committee on Public Safety to recommend the approval of this resolution of the entire Council at its stated meeting.
So moved. 9 12/13/99 PUBLIC HEALTH - RES. 990775 (Duly seconded.)
Resolution No. 4 990075, having been moved to be voted out of committee with a favor recommendation, do I hear a vote? All in favor, say aye? Those against? The ayes have it, and the committee report on Resolution 990775 will be presented before Council at it next session. Thank you all. (Adjourned at 11:10 a.m.) - - - 10 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Monday, December 13, 1999, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY AND WELFARE RESOLUTION NO.'S 990615, 990775 __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter