Committee Hearing, November 8, 2004

- - - COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA - - - PUBLIC HEARING - JOINT COMMITTEE LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT AND PUBLIC SAFETY - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, November 8, 2004, 12:10 p.m. - - - 040791 Resolution authorizing City Council's Committee on Legislative Oversight and Committee on Public Safety to hold joint hearings concerning the safety of Philadelphia school children as they make their way to and from school. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY, Chair COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS-BROWN COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED-MILLER COUNCILMAN JUAN F. RAMOS COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 - - - P R O C E E D I N G S - - -

This is a Joint Committee on Legislative Oversight and Public Safety. There is no need for a quorum today. There is no legislation that's going to be offered out of committee. So, we can get started. And I know I have commitments from other Council people who are going to be coming. I'd like to first ask Managing Director Goldsmith and Paul Vallas, if you could please come forward together. One of the things about this whole issue is that it does affect our school children, both from a pedestrian standpoint and from a school violence standpoint. So, I'd like to have the two of you testify together. In April, this Joint Committee held a hearing to examine the alarmingly high number of children who were struck by motor 3 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 vehicles on their way to and from school. We sought the advice of National Traffic Safety experts and local advocates and also heard from the families of the victims and other concerned parents as well. Our goal was to come up with a plan which would improve the traffic safety record of our schools and ensure the safety of our students. On September 22, 2004, this Committee released a report entitled Protecting Children on their Way to and From School, Finding a Solution that Saves Lives. The purpose of this report was to examine the current situation to suggest ways to change the environment around our schools to make them safe for our children. This hearing is a follow-up to the original hearing and to our report, to see what steps are being taken to make sure that we are getting this problem under control. In addition to looking at the ways in which we have begun to improve school safety, we will also be addressing the 4 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 violence which our children have been facing, both inside and outside of school. The school children of Philadelphia must be protected from all forms of violence and be free to learn without fear. Today we will hear from city and School District officials, members of Eastern Pennsylvania Organizing Project and members of the Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth. We appreciate the perspectives. Thank you for your attendance. We ask for your patience as we hear from each of the witnesses. Mr. Goldsmith and Mr. Vallas, thank you very much for attending today. I appreciate all the hard work that you've been doing over the past number of months to address this problem and give you an opportunity to report on your findings. And then we'll hear from Mr. Vallas.

Thank you very much, Councilman.

Thank you. 5 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

Good afternoon. My name is Phil Goldsmith, Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia. And I appreciate the opportunity to explain what the city is doing to better protect the safety of our children as they walk to and from school. We can all agree that protecting the public from harm is unquestionably one of government's primary responsibilities and challenges, but protecting children from harm as they walk to and from school is an especially important task. Tragically, as we all know now, children driving to school are vulnerable to dangers ranging from careless drivers to stray bullets. Protecting children from these emergent threats to their safety requires a broad range of strategies and constant vigilance. I appreciate the continuing efforts of your Committee, Councilman, to explore the additional measures of what might be appropriate. This administration shares your concerns. 6 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 I'd also like to express my appreciation of the Daily News for raising public awareness on this issue and for its continuing coverage. In my experience, when it comes to issues like the safety of our children, we must be prepared not only to challenge ourselves to do a better job, but to also answer questions about what we are doing to fulfill our obligation to keep them safe. At the same time, we must ask questions about the role of individuals in the broader community in protecting children. We need to put these safety efforts in a larger context of the strategy to change the driving culture as it exists in our city today. We must also link these efforts to broader traffic measures, such as red light cameras and the Don't Block the Box Campaign that are designed to take back our streets from too many careless, and I might add, selfish drivers who put us all at risk each day. 7 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 Since we began our campaign on Don't Block the Box, we have issued over 3700 traffic tickets. We have installed 120 signs at 40 intersections. We hope to have red light cameras installed by the end of this year. In response to concerns about student pedestrian safety raised by the Daily News last year, I convened a School Safety Zone Task Force to assess student pedestrian safety throughout the city. The task force is composed of representatives of the police and streets departments, the City Planning Commission, the School District, the Managing Director's Office, the Mayor's Office, the Philadelphia Parking Authority, and the Traffic Court. I authorized the task force to take immediate and corrective actions where appropriate and to recommend strategies to enhance the safety of children walking to and from school, through a combination of new traffic engineering measures, pedestrian safety education for children, and law 8 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 enforcement strategies. Since being convened nearly a year ago, the task force has been hard at work taking steps to improve safety. First, we have completed a comprehensive safety blitz of more than 1,000 school crossing sites, to ensure that all traffic control devices are installed properly and are functioning. Two, we are requiring schools to establish pickup and drop-off plans to create safer conditions for students who travel to school by bus or automobile. Three, we're implementing a new parking enforcement plan that will eventually reach all 176 elementary schools by the end of this school year. Under this plan, parking enforcement by the Philadelphia Parking Authority will extend beyond school zones to corners and crosswalks along safe routes to school, so that children will no longer be forced to weave their way past illegally parked cars that hide them from view of passing drivers. 9 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 As of this week, the new parking enforcement plan has been implemented in 49 schools. Four, we've initiated daily moving...

speed enforcements at schools throughout the city, in addition to increasing enforcement efforts by patrol districts. Each day the Traffic Division of the Police Department enforces the speed limit at several select schools in the morning and then in the afternoon. Next, we are supporting the critical work of crossing guards with more training, new equipment, and even now command structure within the Police Department. We are also developing a new deployment plan for school crossing guards, based on a comprehensive evaluation of approximately 1300 school crossings which was completed last week. This new comprehensive evaluation of school crossings has been entered into a database that enables us to rank their 10 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 priority, so that we can deploy guards to the highest need crossings and balance objective data with subjective opinion. We are also installing school flashing lights at 27 schools since the formation of the Task Force last year, bringing the total number -- and it's important for me to say this -- parochial, private, charter, as well as school District schools with flashing lights installed to 189. The Task Force has made arrangements to use money provided by the School District, under Mr. Vallas's leadership, to help fund the installation of school flashing lights at the remaining 37 schools that have requested them. And lastly, we are exploring new strategies to make our streets safer for young pedestrians traveling to school, as well as new funding sources for proven traffic control measures. Already this year these measures appear to be making a difference. Compared 11 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 to last year, there has been a significant decrease in the number of students involved in accidents. However, up to now we have lacked precise and reliable school-related automobile accident data because we have not had an accurate system for identifying or investigating them. The Police Department has remedied that problem by requiring all potential school-related auto pedestrian accidents to be referred to the Police Department's accident investigation unit for evaluation and investigation. Moving forward, we will be able to use data on these accidents to guide our prevention efforts. While the decrease in the number of students involved in accidents so far this year is encouraging, our goal is to see a steady, sustained decrease in the number of these accidents over the following -- over the next years. That is why the Task Force will 12 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 continue its work to develop and implement cost-effective strategies to improve student pedestrian safety that are within our means to implement. The Task Force also considered Councilman Kenney's recommendations for improving the safety of children traveling to school, and supports nearly all of those recommendations. In fact, the Task Force has taken steps to implement many of these recommendations in one form or another. We do have reservations, however, with the recommendation to transfer the Crossing Guard Unit to the School District. While we certainly agree that the crossing guards need better support and attention, we believe that needed improvements can be accomplished within the Police Department, which is primarily responsible for public safety throughout the city, rather than the School District, whose primary responsibility and mission is education. But first and foremost, the core issue is not where crossing guards belong on 13 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 an organizational chart, but whether we have enough guards at the right places doing the right things. We have now compiled all relevant data and now can begin the evaluation phase of our assessment. Regrettably, no matter how successful we are at reducing student pedestrian accidents, these measures alone are not enough to keep our children safe as they go back and forth to school.

Crime and neighborhood conditions also have an important impact on the safety of our children as they travel from home to school, and they raise more troubling societal issues. As a city, we are challenged with a serious level of violent crime caused by illicit drugs from abroad and from an over abundance of guns. In fact, the demand for guns is so great in Philadelphia that we have close to 30 police officers working full-time processing gun permit applications. 14 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 I think we would all prefer to have these police officers patrolling our streets. This drug and gun driven crime has the ability to reach schools in unexpected ways. When I was interim chief executive officer of the School District, I remember when six-year-old Aniya Trippett was shot while playing at recess in the school yard at McDaniel Elementary School in April of 2001. McDaniel Elementary is located at 22nd and Moore Streets in South Philadelphia. Later it was discovered that the gun that shot her was fired at 18th and McClellan, about five blocks away from the school. And I remember being asked at the time by the press whether it made sense to let kids out of school for recess. I quickly remarked that the real question is whether it makes sense to have so many handguns in our city. We must face the reality that our karma as a city is to continue to have an unacceptable level of crime and violence as long as drug trafficking persists, and as 15 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 long as we are unable to significantly curtail the number of guns available on the streets. This is not just a Philadelphia issue. It is a national issue. But the local level is where the rubber hits the road. I am not suggesting that we cannot do anything about the problem. We can, we have, and we will, but local government does not have all the answers and certainly not enough resources. These problems transcend all forms of government. They also require parental involvement and commitment from our faith-based community. In addition to the hazards to school children, stemming from drug trafficking and the over supply of guns, we also see conflicts begin in neighborhoods, only to be carried out into the schools by our children. Too often we have seen children become proxies for their parents. O. 16 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 for the School District and now as Managing Director for the City, I have had a unique opportunity to be involved with these issues from both sides. I have learned from firsthand experience that addressing these problems requires effective communication and collaboration between the Police District and the School District, so that proven intervention and prevention strategies can be implemented where they are needed most. As Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson will describe for you in his testimony, and I'm sure Paul Vallas will confirm, the Police Department and the School District have established a high degree of communication and collaboration on a number of initiatives. Today the Police Commissioner will announce another one of those initiatives. An important example of the open communications of the Police Department and the School District is the fact that school police officials participate in weekly 17 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 COMPSTAT meetings at the Police Department, where school safety and related crime issues are discussed, indeed highlighted. O. Paul Vallas and the District's Chief Safety Officer, Dexter Green, to discuss school safety issues on a number of different occasions. However, addressing crime and neighborhood conditions that affect student safety is just not a matter for law enforcement. In addition to the efforts of the Police Department to work with the School District, there are a number of city agencies and initiatives that are directed toward crime and neighborhood conditions which impact the safety of students as they travel to school and back.

For example, the City's Town Watch initiative works with neighborhoods to develop Town Watch groups and teaches them 18 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 how to address problems that are neighborhood based. Town Watch also teaches neighborhood groups to develop an agenda of their own to combat quality of life programs in their communities. Town Watch also provides intervention services to the School District and has even provided mediation services in schools. Town Watch also recruits volunteers for and provides training for Safe Corridor programs for schools. Currently approximately 40 schools have Safe Corridor programs. Town Watch and the School District hope to double that number by the end of the school year to establish the program in another 40 schools. In addition to these efforts, we need to address some of the conditions that create a risk of harm to children along their path. Vacant homes and lots along routes 19 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 to schools expose children to hazardous conditions and can attract criminals who may prey on vulnerable children. To combat this problem, the Department of License & Inspections has treated 160 vacant homes and vacant lots, 8 and has demolished 63 dangerous schools near 9 12 schools, through its Clean and Seal 10 initiative. 11 I have here for the record, Mr. 12 Chairman, a number of photographs taken of 13 conditions around the Pierce School before 14 and then after our initiatives, after the 15 tragic shooting there last year. 16 The city's prevention and 17 intervention efforts also reach out to 18 children and families. Our behavioral health 19 and human services agencies are also on the 20 front line, when it comes to keeping kids 21 safe, by helping children and families deal 22 with anger constructively, as well as helping 23 children and adults cope with the tragic 24 aftermath of violent incidents when they do 25 occur. 20 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 An unprecedented partnership between the School District and these agencies is under way, providing expanded in-school therapy and supports to promote positive behaviors and improve overall school climate. When it comes to keeping children safe from harm, as they travel to and from school, we must be steadfast. We must work to change the conditions and attitudes that have left too many of our children injured by automobiles. While protecting children from being hit by automobiles and protecting them from crime and violence may at times seem like different tasks, an automobile becomes a weapon against a child when it is driven carelessly through a school zone. In the end, all of these efforts are focused on protecting our children from all threats to their safety as they travel back and forth. I would like to conclude by saying that the Task Force has brought together an unprecedented level of cooperation and 21 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 collaboration among a broad range of departments and agencies in this endeavor. Their combined efforts will continue to enhance the safety of children around our schools. And I thank them for their support. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you for your testimony. I'd like Mr. Vallas to give his testimony, and then we can have some questions.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Hold on one second. Councilwoman Brown would like to say something prior to Mr. Vallas's testimony.

I thank you, Councilman Kenney, for this. First let me commend Councilman Kenney for the work he's already done on this issue, starting with the hearings back in the summer, and then the ultimate document which gives us a prescription on how we can proceed. I do not serve on either one of the 22 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 committees, but this issue is one that certainly commands my attention. Regretfully, I have to leave for another obligation. But I need you to know that I'm prepared to work with your office and to work with EPOC on wherever this leads us, so that we can not only get our arms around it, but then seek to execute some of the recommendations you put forth in the document that came out of those hearings. So, I need to put that on the record. I'd like to stay, but work calls me elsewhere. But I'm paying attention. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your comments and for your attendance this morning. Mr. Vallas.

Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Councilman Kenney, and the distinguished members of the Joint Committee for this opportunity to appear before you today. 23 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 I'd also like to echo Phil's thanks to the Philadelphia Daily News for their efforts and their leadership, not only on the student pedestrian safety issue, but also on the larger issue of disruptive behavior and violence impacting our students as part of their class action campaign. Rather than cover many of the things that Phil has already talked about, let me give you some highlights of things that we are doing to focus on the issue of pedestrian safety. And then what I'd like to do is also touch base on a number of other issues because the request for me was to not only comment on pedestrian safety, but to make some general comments about the District's overall efforts to address the issue of student safety. Before I do that I also want to thank Phil Goldsmith and the Mayor for their leadership and for really the unprecedented level of cooperation between all city agencies and the School District. 24 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 We have met regularly, not only on this issue specifically, but also on the larger issue of student violence and how to keep our students save. A. Police Department, Town Watch, Philadelphia Antidrug, Antiviolence Network, Women Organized Against Rape, the City Victim Assistance Organization, the Antiviolence Partners of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Department of Health, and our faith-based partners for their leadership. Some specific things that the School District has embarked upon in the area of pedestrian safety. The District has just completed its purchase of portable school crossing signs that you can see to the left of me for each and every one of our elementary schools. And those crossing signs are in the process of being delivered. So, those crossing signs will be parked on the school 25 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 pickup and drop-off points. So that's something we have been able to do in record time. They will be placed in the middle of the streets to alert drivers that they're entering a school zone, just as they enter the drop-off and pickup zone. And we'll continue to purchase as many signs as we need, so that not only the flashing lights and the signs that are hung by the poles, but people will be able to see visibly that this is a crossing and pickup zone. And in some cases when we are permitted, we may actually place the signs in the middle of the street in front of the pickup and drop-off zones to prevent cars from even driving by, other than to pick up their children. We have already established our safety zones around schools and our designated drop-off and pickup areas. So virtually all the schools should have the school safety zones clearly identified, and 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 all the schools should have designated drop-off and pickup areas. Let me also point out that we have already mapped out safe corridor routes to and from schools that not only show students where they should be crossing the streets and at what intersections, but also the general routes that they should take to and from school, because as you pointed out, Mr. Chairman, and as our City Manager has pointed out, the issue of student safety goes far beyond just the issue of traffic and the issue of pedestrian safety. The Parking Authority in the Philadelphia Police Department has increased its enforcement of no-parking zones and pickup and drop-off zones. The parking ticket-writing training has now been provided to a large number of our police officers. Actually, beginning Wednesday, our police officers in many of our schools will begin writing tickets, so they'll have the authority to ticket individuals who are illegally parked. And of 27 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 course, our goal is to train each one of our school police officers in ticket-writing capability.

We've already begun the process of collecting citywide data on auto pedestrian accidents, involving students in public and non-public schools. And let me point out that we readily make all of our data public. This School District does not withhold data at all. 'd when it comes to requests for data and information. And we provide it regularly. Legislation has already been introduced to increase enforcement by increasing the fines, and also authorizing the suspension of licenses when there are repeat offenders. And we have confidence that the legislation is going to move during the closing days of legislative session. We've been reassured that that is, in fact, going to happen. We are in the process of recruiting 28 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 2,000 parent volunteers for the 2004-2005 school year, to assist us in various capacities, related to our Safe Corridors program. I would say that we're probably about, conservatively, probably about 40 percent, 50 percent of the way there. But the parents will be -- Many of the parents will be participating in our Safe School Zones, on our Walking School Bus program, our Safe Corridors program. So, we have parents and community representatives walking the routes to and from school. And we've been ably assisted in this program by participating in the TANF program which allows to us include parental support, parental volunteers in the schools, as part of the Federal Government's Welfare to Work program. So parents who work in our schools who staffed the Parent Help Desk, who participate in paid parent patrols, who participate in school support by which they receive a stipend for, these parents can 29 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 qualify, can meet their obligations under the Federal Government's Welfare to Work program. And Ed Schwartz has been particularly helpful in recruiting hundreds of volunteers -- or hundreds of TANF workers for this program. As I mentioned, while we have these Safe Corridors... while we have identified Safe Corridors throughout the School District, so far we only have about 40 schools with what I consider to be daily fully functioning parental patrols. Every one of our elementary schools needs to have a parent and community patrol. Our goal is to have all of our elementary schools with active patrols. And hopefully, we'll come close to reaching that goal before the year is out. Accepting anything less would be unacceptable or having anything less would be unacceptable to us. There are parents and community people involved in each and every one of our schools. There's no reason why we can't aggressively organize a patrol. But 30 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 obviously getting volunteers has been a task that we've -- has been a challenge that we've been facing over at least the past few years. We've done outreach to parents district-wide and to school staff, identifying drop-off areas at the school, informed them of where the new drop-off areas are, as well as informing them of the parking guidelines, and informing them of the corridors to and from school. And let me point out that we're doing this every semester. We did it before the end of our last semester last year in June. We did it before the start of the first school semester in August. We are doing it again, you know, as we work our way through the current semester, and we will do it again during second semester. So, the objective here is to constantly, constantly communicate back to parents and students about the safe corridors, to constantly communicate to them about our drop-off and pickup areas in and around schools, and at the same time to 31 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 constantly communicate to them the rules and regulations regarding school safety, regarding pedestrian safety. The education process really has to be a continual education process.

Also, this year for the first time, all of our schools, virtually all of our schools, have at least one fully-staffed all-day School District trained police officer. And the police officers are there to, obviously, coordinate with our own citywide safety -- school safety and security staff, but also to coordinate with the local police. The police officers are also assigned -- First of all, not only are they being provided with ticket-writing authority -- and as I mentioned, the ticket-writing on the part of the school police will begin on Wednesday -- the police officers are also assigned outside the schools during arrival and dismissal times, to assist students and parents at the 32 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 designated drop-off areas, and to in effect monitor student safety, particularly pedestrian safety. And they'll be out there armed with their ticket-writing books. $1 million has been provided through the School District's Capital Fund to assist the city with the installation of flashing speed zone signs. Let me also point out that this money is being used to leverage a PennDOT grant of up to $1 million that can be spent on pedestrian safety, related to signage and traffic-calming devices. So, in effect we will have been able to secure $2 million for these instruments, for these pedestrian safety instruments. The new safe corridors and pedestrian safety tips brochure our being distributed to the School District, as I mentioned, in the first quarter of the new year. And once again, this will be the second edition of this specific brochure, and we'll continue to distribute that brochure literally every quarter. 33 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 Risk Watch, a comprehensive injury prevention curriculum for children in pre-school through eighth grade, has been distributed to the School District district-wide, and students are in the process of undergoing training through that curriculum. We want to make sure that all the children are taught basic fundamental pedestrian -- not only pedestrian safety techniques or tips, but also generally school safety tips, safe corridor tips. Because we want to make sure that children are well aware of the dangers imposed by not crossing at the designated street corner, or for that matter, some of our concerns about student safety, when students are not following the designated corridors to and from school. We're partnering with AAA for educational programs in the classroom, and as well as the Safety Cadets program. PennDOT Streets Smarts program, 20 schools participated in that program. We're looking 34 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 at double the number of schools participating this year. So, once again, just in summary, to supplement what Phil has already said, cooperation is very close. We're working constantly on this issue. And all the things that we committed to at the start of the school year, actually before the conclusion of the last school year, we have implemented and were in effect taking to scale from the safe corridors routes, to the identification of pickup and drop-off zones, to the purchasing and distribution of the signs, to the raising of funds for the pedestrian safety devices, to the curriculum, to the schools -- the pedestrian safety tips, integrated into our curriculum and instructional models, to the recruitment of parent and community volunteers, as well as the pain of parent and community stipend employees to participate in our school -- in our school safety initiatives. That said and done, as I pointed out 35 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 time and time again, we're concerned about the larger issue that goes far beyond pedestrian safety, the larger issue of children being safe, not only when they're coming to school or where they're going to school -- or they're going home from school, but also the whole issue of student safety 9 hours a day.

10 Just as we've established a 24-hour 11 day zero tolerance policy for dealing with 12 students who engage in disruptive and 13 dangerous behavior, because we will take 14 disciplinary action against students who are 15 arrested for committing serious offenses on a 16 weekend. If you're dangerous on Sunday, 17 you're going to be dangerous on Monday. 18 We have also adopted a 24-hour-a-day 19 crisis support and student intervention 20 policy, so that if any students are the 21 victims of violence, our crisis teams kick 22 into action 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 23 The teams are sent to the homes. 24 The teams are sent to the hospitals. The Crisis Support Fund is accessed when it's 36 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 appropriate. And again, we're concerned about student safety hours a day. 4 Our push towards establishing more 5 and more after school programs and summer 6 school programs and extended day care 7 programs, in partnership with the city, in 8 part is designed not only to help our 9 students academically but also designed to 10 get our students involved in constructive 11 after school and the extended day and summer 12 school activities; get them off the street, 13 get them involved and engaged in appropriate 14 activities, keep them occupied, keep them off 15 the street. 16 But likewise, our focus on 17 incorporating values and character education 18 into the curriculum, our community service 19 projects are partnering with community based 20 organizations. 21 Our establishments of clubs and 22 character building associations is also 23 designed to get at this issue, to get our 24 kids not only involved in constructive activities, but also involved in the 37 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 constructive character building activities that will help our students, that will help our students behave appropriately and behave respectfully. But let me talk about some other specifics, when it comes to our efforts to improve student safety. Our Safe Corridors campaign is just not about pedestrian safety; it's about keeping kids safe from predators, keeping kids safe from bullies, keeping kids safe from those who would intimidate or threaten them. So our approach at Safe Corridors, at the walking school bus, designating our safe routes to and from school, are designed to do more than just focus on pedestrian safety. I will also point out that a part of this campaign has been to work with L & I to identify abandoned buildings, open alleyways, open gangways, to identify danger spots on routes to and from school, and in working with city departments to get the city to take 38 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 the appropriate action to secure those buildings or to secure those alleyways and gangways, so when students are walking to and from school there are no risks -- there are no risks for those students as they approach the school. But as part of this effort, it does necessitate a great degree of coordination and cooperation, obviously, with the Police Department, and with other city agencies in the development of this Safe Corridors campaign. But I do want to make a couple general comments. When it comes to the larger issue of student safety or the larger issue of student behavior, over 90 percent of the students who are involved in disruptive behavior in our schools are academically underachieving. And close to two-thirds of the students who are involved in disruptive behavior or show up on our serious incident reports are students who in effect are a year to two years older than their classmates. 39 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 So, you kind of get a pattern here. We have over-age, underachieving children, who seem to be the children that are most prone to causing trouble or getting into trouble, most prone to bullying, most prone to showing up in our serious incident reports.

It also drives home the point that ultimately on this larger issue of student violence or student disruptive behavior, we're not going to begin to show real progress along this line, in this area, until we really begin to close the achievement gap. Because as long as the student is coming to school two years, three years, four years below grade level, as long as the student is sitting in a classroom where he's two or three years older than his classmate, that student is going to be ripe to be the bully, to be the intimidator. And that is the student that's going to be dropping out. That's the student that's going to be recruited by the street gangs or by negative associations. That's 40 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 the student, the ex-student, ultimately, who is going to be selling drugs on the street corner or show up in our correctional institutions. So, clearly, closing the gap, closing the achievement gap is going to go a long way towards helping us address this underlying issue of disruptive student behavior. But that said and done, that said and done, we're not going to be able to begin to close -- we're not going to have the success that we desire at closing the achievement gap unless we have healthy school climates. I mean, we have to close the gap, but by the same token we have to create an environment conducive to learning. So that necessitates -- That has necessitated us to become much more aggressive in addressing this issue of student behavior. To address -- To address this issue, this past year we've increased -- or we've lowered the tolerance level when it comes 41 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 to -- when it comes to student disruptive behavior, bad behavior, when it comes to students engaging in the type of activity that's inappropriate for a school environment. We have done this by creating 3,500 slots in alternative schools for students who basically violate the School District's zero tolerance policy. But also students that may not have violated the policy, but are just engaging in general disruptive behavior, just ending up being a general nuisance in the schools and clearly need to be put in a different setting. So right now we have seven alternative schools run by six different providers that are providing alternative placement for students who are not serious about their education, and we fully intend to fill all those slots. Let me point out that students are not expelled to the street. They are expelled to a fully certified alternative 42 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 school. So, we consider this to be an expulsion or in the legal sense a transfer. So, we feel it's well within the School District's rights to determine what schools children should go to, as long as we're providing them with the appropriate education. But we started the year with 2500 students enrolled in the schools or at this time we have 2500 students enrolled in alternative placement, and we fully anticipate that we'll probably transfer another 1,000 before the year's out. In addition, though, this year for the first time we began to open up a number of what we call accelerated schools. These are schools for over-age underachievers. These are schools for the students who are one, two, three years older than their classmates and two, three, four years below their classmates. Let me point out just to drive home the seriousness of this problem, last year -- last year 3,000 of our middle grade students 43 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 reached the age of before the end of the school year. That's 3,000. Now, of course some of them graduated and moved on. But the bottom line is just imagine having 14-, 15-, and in some cases 16-year-old middle grade students. And trust me when I say, the overwhelming vast majority of those students are not at grade level. In fact, they are far below grade level.

12 And we have well over 1,000 ninth 13 graders this year who are 17 years old. So, 14 this -- And believe me when I say, the 15 overwhelming vast majority of those 16 17-year-old ninth graders are not performing at or anywhere near grade level. So, this year we began to open up a series of alternative schools for over-age underachieving students. We enrolled 500 17-year-old ninth graders into those schools this year. But those schools do provide us with alternative placement. We can get over-age students who are academically struggling into 44 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 self-contained classrooms, into smaller high schools, into smaller classrooms, into a more self-contained supportive high school environment. And we can get the over-age underachieving students out of the general high school and into a more conducive environment. We fully anticipate having an accelerated school in each of the nine -- in each of the nine regions by the start of the school year next year. But again, this will provide another alternative placement so we can get the kids -- second chance high schools -- so we can get the kids into constructive programs and at the same time get the most at-risk kids out of the general high school, where a lot of times if they are left in those high schools they either drop out, or if they stay in high school they are -- they are the students most likely to engage in disruptive behavior. I will say this as a footnote, that the alternative schools also serve as schools 45 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 of designation for students who were released from correctional facilities. In the past, anywhere from 1500 to 1700 students, former students, were released each year, each year to return to the School District. And as a rule only about 50 percent of those students eventually made it back into school. But there was no restrictions on where the students would go. In fact, one year 250 of those students who were released from correctional facilities, juvenile detention centers returned to Olney High School, just in a single year. So, imagine the disruption or the potential disruption for those type of situations. Ever since the enacting of Act 88, we have been guided by state law which says that students who are released from correctional facilities cannot return to their neighborhood schools for at least a year. And what we've done is, we have placed those students in alternative placement. But because of the availability of 46 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 the alternative schools, and because of the quality of the alternative schools, about 85 percent of the students who have been released have actually been returned to school, just not their neighborhood day schools, you see. And plus, when you look at the performance of those students academically, and their attendance and the recidivism rate, all the numbers have improved dramatically. In fact, the recidivism rate of students who have gone through -- who have been placed into alternative schools and have gone through our Ready-Wrap, which is our five-to ten-day reintroduction or reorientation of students to the schools, that students come in and they're evaluated, they're assessed, they're given physicals, their eyes are checked to see if they need glasses. But in effect this Ready-Wrap, these wrap-around services are provided before the children are placed back into school, albeit an alternative school. 47 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 But again, when you look at the benefits of Ready-Wrap, as well as the benefits of the alternate schools network, the recidivism rate has significantly declined. We're just trying to reconcile whether the decline is 50 percent to 75 percent. But the bottom lines is, the kids are simply not getting into the level of trouble or the number of kids are not getting into trouble and ending up back into the correctional facilities, as had been the prior practice.

So, that kind of lays it out on what we're doing and where we're going. While I think we've made great progress this year, when it comes to improving pedestrian safety, I also sincerely think that we're making progress on student behavior, too. I will tell you, for the second year in a row, the number of serious incidents involving our students is down for the second year in a row. It's certainly not anywhere near an acceptable level. 48 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 But the bottom line is, we are making progress, and that progress is across the board. But that progress is slow, and that progress needs to be accelerated. And while we believe that alternative placement or alternative schools, our tougher zero tolerance policy will make a difference, while we think that partnering with community based organizations, particularly our faith-based partnering and our work with social service agencies to provide the wrap-around services, and to provide the crisis intervention will help make a difference, I ultimately think that the greatest gains and the greatest progress will be seen if we can continue to close the academic gap, so we do not have this phenomena of children two or three years, you know, older than their classmates, but two or three years below grade level sitting in a classroom, very low self esteem, clearly in a position to intimidate and to bully their seat mates. I will make one final request. 49 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 Representative Roebuck last year introduced legislation that began to make its way through the legislature to lower the enrollment, mandatory enrollment age from eight years old to six years old. Particularly, the legislation, I believe, originally was statewide, but I think he was willing to amend it to Philadelphia. State law does not require that students enroll in school until they are eight years old. And percent of our 13 kindergarteners who start school or our kids 14 in kindergarten are already at least one year 15 older than they should be, and many are as 16 old as two years. 17 And of course if a child is too old, 18 you don't even enroll them in kindergarten, 19 you enroll them in first and second grade. 20 Let me assure you that the students who are starting school at seven years old and eight years old are not anywhere near where they should be, either academically or for that matter socially. So, the problems become complicated, 50 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 become compounded on day one. So certainly when we're talking about legislative priorities, like toughening the penalties regarding traffic violations in and around school zones, we should also be revisiting legislation, like Representative Roebucks' legislation, which would mandate that the school starting age for children, at least in Philadelphia, be no greater than six years old. Thank you very. Much

Thank you very much for your testimony. I just wanted to say, I wanted to thank Mr. Goldsmith and Mr. Vallas. I think this is the way the process is supposed to work. The legitimate role of the press is to identify problems. Problems are then addressed working in a constructive and cooperative fashion, and then being able to promulgate those results to the public through this process, in legislative oversight hearing and City Council, so that the press then reports again back to what's 51 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 being done to address the problems. And I agree, and even though the city has made, with the School District, great strides in addressing the pedestrian problem, I do agree with Mr. Goldsmith that the culture of selfish, reckless driving is something that needs to be dealt with. And I don't even know the answer to that. But we are involved in a different era, in a different culture than it was when we were children, where the crossing guard actually was, you know, a figure of authority, where people would, you know, slow up and slow down and relax. Now we have a different generation, different culture. And we're dealing with those problems as best we can. One of the other things that I think is very important that you're implementing, both with the School District and with the city, is the writing of tickets around schools for illegal parking which creates the obstacles for drivers to see young children. One of the things I would suggest is 52 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 that whatever criticism or complaint you get, you ignore. Any time we've tried in the past here to issue tickets for things like street sweeping, other things, the roar of complaint was such that the programs wound up getting shelved. This is too important a program to get shelved. If people want dirty streets because they don't want to move their car, they have to live in that dirt. But this issue of writing tickets -- I don't know if you've gotten it yet, but the initial, you know, cry, you know, will be hysterical, that we're somehow violating their civil rights to park wherever they want. So, I would really urge you to ignore whatever complaints you may get from elected officials about that, because I think it's important that we continue on. Could you be a little more specific, Mr. Goldsmith, on what you're going to do, as far as crossing guard education, continued training, equipment supplies, those kind of 53 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 things.

Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to leave that to the Police Department.

Okay.

I think they'll be able to speak to it. I think what we have done -- and I think it was completed last week -- is we went out to every intersection to review, by our criterias, what we thought was needed. That's all now been inputted. And now we're going to start our assessment as to... You know, I think we have 1,037 crossing guards. We're going to find out, based on the criteria, whether we think that's too many, too few, and at the right locations. And that's what the education program -- I think the training has gone from four weeks to eight weeks for new crossing guards. And I think the existing crossing guards are also going through a new training.

And there will 54 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 be additional, like you said, hopefully equipment, and more regular uniform....

Yes, they have new equipment. Uniforms they should be wearing. They're going to get new paddles. Do we have a paddle here? New paddles which will be available shortly.

We will also -- We will also be -- The parent patrols, the school patrols that we organize, we will be purchasing jackets and -- and, you know, special outfits for them to wear, too, in fact. We're looking at doing something, kind of a standardized issue, for our parents who work the help desks, so when there is a parent or community worker volunteer in the school, or for that matter when we have parents walking the corridors to and from school, that parent -- or that parent patrol will be specifically identified, and people will know who that person is. So, we think that that will also help the city in that process. 55 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

Mr. Goldsmith, the new comprehensive evaluation of school crossings that's been entered into the database and enables you to rank the priority of the corner, will that situation ultimately result in the reconfiguration of the movement of guards?

Yes.

And do you have an idea when that may happen?

I don't know. I hope that we complete the evaluation by maybe the end of this month. That maybe a little bit, given the holidays, too quick. But hopefully by the end of the year we'll have an idea. And to the extent that this has budgetary implications, we'll obviously have to come back to Council on those issues.

And as in the category of one problem creates another problem, one of the things that we had talked about in the last hearing was a more uniform police presence in the school areas during 56 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 the course of entering the school and dismissal. Is one of the problems resulting is that -- not being able to do that as much as we'd like -- have anything to do with court assignments in the mornings? Is that one of our problems?

I think that's going to be one of them, because we have fewer people out there because they're in courts. But that's another issue we're tackling which we'll be glad to discuss at some point, in terms of court overtime and how we can do a better job of that.

In your testimony you indicated that there's 30 officers that are processing gun permits. And I recognize that it is a bit bizarre. But is there some reason why we have to process them at a certain pace? If we had less people there, they would get processed slower. Is there a state requirement that we process them at a certain length of time?

Not to -- 57 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

If you put one officer in there --

No. Actually --

Simultaneously keep guns off the street and get more people out?

It's something we're looking at, yes.

Okay. Fine. Also in the area of equipment, I do appreciate the effort with the flashing lights, getting them around the public, parochial and charter schools. Is there any -- And maybe the Streets Department can investigate this. Is there any type of technology which would allow the simultaneous use of the flashing 15-mile-an-hour sign and showing what the driver's speed is, similar to what they do on construction sites? I know that's very effective in many small towns in Southern New Jersey and our suburbs, when you're entering their town and the speed limit is reduced, they will 58 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 flash --

Right.

-- what your speed is. I don't know if it's available or if it's that much more expensive, but I think it may have a visual effect on people's driving behavior.

I'll leave that to the Streets Department, if you don't mind.

Okay. The other thing I would ask for both -- if the city hasn't done it already and the School District -- is letters of support to State Representative Purzel and Kenney, relative to their legislation to increase the fines for speeding in school zones, and to increase the number of points associated with that violation. So, that would be helpful just to reinforce that, that that's something what that we're asking for. And just one -- two questions from -- three questions for Mr. Vallas. You had indicated -- Or could you elaborate a 59 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 little more on the AAA effort? Because one of the things that I would hope would happen on a regular basis at the beginning of school, as children are coming back from the summer and used to darting around and being carefree and happy in the summer, is kind of get their attention as to what the serious nature of crossing between cars and at the wrong spot, especially for little children. I don't think they understand the lack of visibility when it comes to a driver when a kid moves out between two parked cars.

Well, I think you've answered the question. The bottom line is, we fully intend to take full advantage of that effort and to make it part of the back-to-school orientation. But what's going to be the key success for us is repetition. It's like the standardized curriculum. Sometimes repetition is helpful; I mean, if the students go through not only one school safety orientation a year, but three or four. 60 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 So what we're trying to do, the game plan for the coming year will be to -- to -- you know, not only the AAA program, but also the general Risk Watch curriculum will be to expose the children to that curriculum towards the end of the school year as an orientation before the school year starts. And then at some point in each semester we will pause to take the children of all ages through the -- basically, through the -- through the curriculum, through the pedestrian safety techniques. So, the objective here is to make this a regular part of the system.

How many school police officers are there?

450, but that does not count the per diems. We have the authority to hire upwards to 250 per diem officers, which we will probably do before the end of the year.

And do your commanders also attend COMPSTAT meetings?

Yes. 61 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

They do?

Yes.

Thank you. And Just one other question for Mr. -- I have one for Mr. Vallas and one for Mr. Goldsmith. On the alternative school issue, relative to kids out of grade, production, performance and over-age, why do we wait for incidents? If you get to a certain level of underachievement and age, should it automatically trigger the placement in an alternative school?

Well, that is probably where we will end up. But without the existence of those schools, we had to start somewhere. So, for example, in the four alternative schools that we opened up for the over-age underachievers -- And let me point out, three of the four are privately run, Abraxas, Camelot... Joe Priatta, who has always mastered the art of managing very effectively alternative schools... He opened 62 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 up one of ours. We had to start somewhere. So, the minimum -- So one of the requirements was that the students be 17-year-old new freshmen or repeating freshmen. But ultimately -- ultimately the transfer may be triggered once the student hits the age of 16. So, if you have a student who's and in eighth grade, for 11 example, and that student is academically 12 underachieving, that student would be 13 eligible, or that student might be a 14 candidate for transfer to an alternative 15 school. 16 So, here the reason we focused on 17-year-olds this year was, we just opened the schools for the first time. And we had to -- You know, we just didn't want to have -- We just didn't want to have a -- We didn't want to be overwhelmed. So, we targeted 17-year-old freshmen. I will point out that the School District is currently piloting, and a one-year pilot to take to scale, a middle 63 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 grades program, as well as a primary grades program. So that if you have over-age primary grade students who are underachieving, they will be placed in self-contained classrooms, so that in effect we can focus, we can get those students with their peers, we can provide more of an accelerated curriculum, more time spent in reading and math, more wrap-around services. And we're piloting, and we will take to scale next year, a similar program in the middle grades, where we're taking middle grade students, and we're putting -- who are -- you know, who are two years over age, and we're putting them in a similar school within the school, self-contained environment, with the requisite wrap-around services. There's, like, 15 kids for every classroom. There's a second support teacher in the classroom. There's a counselor aside. So, it's all -- Wo we're trying to -- We're going to try to incorporate this model into 64 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 our K to schools at the primary and middle grades level. But next year, once we have -- once we have a accelerated school -- I don't like to call it over-age underachiever's school. Once we have an accelerated school located in each of the nine regions, we will then probably lower the admissions -- the age of admissions to probably 16, and we'll go having the slots for all those kids.

Thank you. Just finally, on the issue of tickets. In your testimony, Mr. Goldsmith, you had indicated that the city has written 3700 tickets on Don't Block the Box. That seems like an awful lot. Are we sure that number's accurate? It's a lot of tickets.

Yes. Actually, let me clarify -- let me clarify two things. I misspoke when I said the training for crossing guards went from four weeks to eight weeks. I meant hours, four hours to eight hours.

Well, we'll 65 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 revisit that after you answer that question.

The tickets as a result of the Don't Block the Box campaign is 3700. That's not to say they're all written for that particular violation of Don't Block the Blocks -- Don't Block the Box. Whatever. But they're for whatever array of tickets are being written as a result of that initiative. Some of them are red lights, going through red lights. Some are improper turns. Some of them are parking violations. Some of them are actual Don't Block the Blocks -- Don't Block the Box campaign, but the number's 3700.

So 3700 relates to intersection violations.

Intersection violations. And that includes -- I should say, it also includes a combination of the Police District -- Police Department and the Parking Authority. And we get a report every week.

Okay. Do you also have numbers on how many tickets have 66 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 been issued for speeding in a school zone?

Yes, we do.

Could we get that, if possible?

Yes.

I'd appreciate it. The Police Department may know. That's it for me. Counsel President Verna.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to take the opportunity to publicly thank you and applaud you for all the time, effort and energy that you have put into this issue.

Thank you, President Verna.

And I thought that your comprehensive study was very interesting. And I think that some of the suggestions should be implemented sooner than later.

Well, actually, as a result of Mr. Goldsmith's testimony, 67 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 there were a number of things that have already gone into effect. And this is a very cooperative effort.

That's wonderful. I am glad to hear that. Before the hearing this afternoon, there was a meeting concerning violence. And the issue of truancy came up. Mr. Vallas, it was said that a student could be playing truancy for 28 days and 3 months before some action was taken. Could you elaborate on the truancy issue? Because that doesn't sound right.

No. No, that's not the... It's ten days before we can begin to take legal action. But if the student -- First of all, if a student is absent, unexcused for three consecutive days, that student can be put in mandatory after school extended day programs. So if the student is absent unexcused more than ten days, that student, even if that student has gotten good grades, that student can in effect... 68 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

Ten days in how much of a period of time?

It's ten days. There's ten days unexcused absences. So, in other words --

Consecutive or throughout the course of... UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: Throughout the school year.

Throughout the school year.

Throughout the school year.

Yes. But we will initiate action in Family Court after how many days? UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: Ten days.

It's ten days. So, I think last year I think we initiated -- and we'll have to give you the numbers --lose to 300 -- 300 -- There are 300 instances in which the School District initiated action in Family Court. But after three days you're 69 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 automatically put in extended day. After ten days, you can fail. You'll be failed, and you'll have to go to summer school in order to make up the time. But also after ten days we can then go into the courts, and we can initiate action to basically get... You know, the courts can fine a parent or for that matter sometimes even send a parent to prison whose student has -- whose child has simply continuously been -- been absent from school, where that child obviously is of an age where the court deems it the parent's responsibility.

It just sounded... In fact, I think Councilman Rizzo was there. And I think we both looked at each other and said, 28 days? It just sounds too absurd to me. I thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Mariano.

Let Councilman Rizzo go first, and then I'll go after him. 70 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

Great. I don't want to ask the question. Okay. I'll ask. I just want to make sure I understand. When I think back, I remember we used to have a safety patrol in the schools, both Catholic and your system.

Right.

The very basics... I can remember being marched out of the school. Don't walk... It scares me when I see what kids do when it comes to -- when it comes to the way they handle themselves on the street. We were taught you never walk between an intersection. Vehicles that are idling, you know, people are -- their foot's on the brake, if the brake slips. Some of the very basic stuff about teaching kids not to do that. Not to cross in the middle of the block, jay walking. I mean, if we get them early, it's like, I guess, anything in education.

Right.

They'll react 71 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 better.

Right.

You mentioned a few minutes ago -- And I was distracted. Aren't we doing some of that real basic kind of stuff?

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, the students are going through -- We have our safety tips, our walking school bus brochures, our Risk Watch, which is basically designed to... It's a curriculum that is made available to students that basically want... in fact, our school safety corridor tips. The bottom line is, there is student training and student orientation going on about not only the safe routes to and from schools, but where students should be crossing, that students shouldn't be darting in between cars, that students should be crossing where there is a crossing guard located. In fact, all the schools have routes that are designated and crossing areas that 72 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 are designated. And we not only informed the students of this once a year. We are actually doing it multiple times. Our strategy is to distribute it -- to distribute -- to instruct the students two or three times during the school year and to send the support material home to the parents at the end of the school year, before the start of school year in each semester; so, redundant training. So, yes, there is training going on.

Mr. Vallas, do they get to wear the neat-looking little badges, still with the...

Say again.

Do they still get to wear the safety badges --

Right.

-- like Councilman Rizzo wore?

You have the patrol boys and patrol girls.

Is there a captain and -- 73 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

Right. Right, patrol boys and --

Yeah. See, I never got to be a safety; but he did, so he wants to know.

I was never one of those either. I didn't earn enough --

For some reason --

I was always crossed by patrol guards.

-- I don't know why -- they wouldn't let me be one. I guess they figured something out.

But I'll tell you this: The -- So the answer is yes. Now, has the training been uniform across the schools? Some principals are much more aggressive than others, but obviously that's my responsibility. My responsibility is to make sure that the safe corridor tips, and that the Risk Watch, and that the basically the student -- the pedestrian safety curriculum, 74 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 the safety tips, are disseminated, that the students do go through kind of that basic training.

Mr. Vallas, no 6 disrespect.

No. 8

I think those kids, the most kids in school, aren't going to read that. You got to get something --

No. There's a curriculum. We have a curriculum.

They all work on computers, don't they?

Yeah.

The screen saver. Why can't it say about the pedestrian safety...

Yeah.

...a videotape. Because kids today are... You know, they want to watch stuff. They don't want to -- I think they'll throw the brochure away, with no disrespect. 75 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

The brochure's for the parents. Okay. But there is a curriculum. There is a specific curriculum for the children. And that curriculum is interactive. I can certainly get you a copy of the curriculum. It's a computer-driven curriculum.

Yeah.

So, yeah. There's a standardized curriculum, and there's time set aside for the students to disseminate the curriculum, you see. And it's not just going to be -- It's not just done once a year. The objective here is to do it at the beginning of the school year, and then to repeat it once or twice during the course of the school year. Now, the safe corridors tips and the brochures and the information -- And the same thing with the discipline policy, the zero tolerance policy. That stuff is sent back to parents two or three times a year, along with 76 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 letters, reminding the parents of what we expect of them. So, what we're trying to do is, we're trying to get the parents to reinforce the things, whether it's pedestrian safety or, for that matter, student discipline code at home, so that the kids are hearing it at home as well as in the school.

Thank you.

But you're absolutely right. I mean, there's interactive, there's games you can play, there's little safety awards you can put up. You know, the patrol boy and girl program is something that isn't uniform across the District. And what we're trying to do is, we're trying to revitalize that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Vallas. Mr. Goldsmith, what about traffic-calming devices? You might have addressed it earlier. I know we have been told for years that what I call a speed bump 77 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 is something that we don't do. But you've set a precedent. We've got them. I just came down Stenton Avenue, that hard turn that takes you down to Tookany Creek there has got speed bumps on it now. Not that we want to put them everywhere, but there may be places where they would be appropriate. And they have -- and I've noticed in other states -- a speed-calming device that is not abrupt. It is a large turtleback where you really need to slow down to an appropriate speed or you bottom your car out. And most people don't want to bottom their car out. But they're not damaging to the point that -- like you see in the fast food restaurants. What are we doing with that now that we already have a city street equipped with speed devices or traffic-calming devices? We've broken that -- We've broken that standard of no devices.

Right. Well, one of the missions of the Task Force is to look at that issue, which we're doing with the 78 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 Streets Department, to find out which ones are appropriate and where they would be appropriate. There's... I think PennDOT allows them at certain places and not in others, and so forth. So, it's an issue that is at the top of our agenda, to see which ones we can use and where they can be used, and obviously what the costs would be. So, we're well aware of it and working on it.

Great. Mr. Vallas.

Also, the intersection islands, the traffic islands, are very effective too, because you don't have to install the bumps. And I think the PennDOT contract or the PennDOT grant would allow for -- That would fall into the category of these devices. But what a lot of cities have done is they have created these little intersection islands. You don't have the speed bumps, but you can't be barreling 79 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 through it, because you eventually have to go around the island. And they've been used quite effectively. So, in addition to the speed bumps, particularly at those -- those school intersections, where clearly you need to do things to more than just have some flashing lights to slow down traffic also. Creating those little intersection islands, those pedestrian islands is one way of doing it, too.

Two real quick questions from me. Mr. Vallas, I think Councilman Rizzo hit on something here about you setting up a sure home to the parents. I think possibly -- I saw on election day we were at the Famous 4th Street Deli for the famous election day get-together. And Reverend Run from RunDMC, Russell Simmons, and all the people from the hip-hop community were there. I think that's a big enough thing in this city where possibly you could speak with them. 80 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

Sure.

And I know I can't speak for them.

That's a good idea.

If you come out with something with them guys, it's gold, and they'll pay attention.

I agree. I agree.

You know, I think somebody over there -- I think Jimmy Lewis is pretty big in hip-hop. You might want to put him on the...

We use Jimmy to scare the kids.

No. We don't want Jimmy to sing. We don't want Jim to sing. We want him to just talk to the hip-hop artists.

But no. I think that's -- You know, having a city wide campaign --

He won't do it for nothing, I'm sure.

Right. 81 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 We're trying to do something similar with school beautification.

Yeah.

We want the schools to compete on attendance. The truancy issue, trying to get the kids -- Schools will get awards, children will get recognized that they have perfect attendance, things of this nature. So, yeah; the community is big enough to get some celebrities to come in and to speak to this issue just as a reminder. Like, you ever see the campaign with the celebrities on the reads, the children reads campaign. We can do the same thing. I think that's a good idea.

One question for the Managing Director. Mr. Goldsmith, I came in about 20 minutes late, so if you covered this, please bear with me. We're mainly here because of school safety, but a lot of it is crossing guards. And I know you've only been in this job for a couple years. 82 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 But I know you were with the city probably when I was in high school, I think, when Mr. Green was the Mayor. I'm just teasing you. So you've been around and you've been paying attention. You've held a number of jobs, Fairmount Park Commission, C.E.O. of the School District. I think one of the things different between when Councilman Kenney and I and Councilman Rizzo were in grade school, that there was a lot more money for school crossing guards. And it seems like the administration before this one, I remember their first term -- and I wasn't a Councilman, but I did work for Councilman Kenney then -- we cut out a lot of things at that point. Now, I know the numbers have been thrown around. I'm sure you do. But the reason that everyone probably doesn't want to be a school crossing guard is that was a good job to have at one time. I mean, it's a tough job standing 83 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 out in the weather at the corner. I'd have no idea what they make, but I'm sure it's a lot lower than I would suspect. But they took health benefits, I think, away from their spouses or something like that, I think. And I know all this money has to come from somewhere. And I know you're not the guy that brings the money in. We're over here cutting taxes and things likes that. But to get good people, and we got to be able to bring good people in, there has to be an incentive to it. Is there a big difference between now and when this administration started, as crossing guards go, or are we just playing this numbers game all along?

I don't know the answer. I'll get you the answer. I don't know how the numbers...

You know what? I'd like to see what we had in 2000, 1990, 1980.

Right.

I'm sure it's 84 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 gone down for the obvious reasons, just... As people get more money, we can't afford it. But I bet you if you'd figure out what a crossing guard makes now as compared to what a crossing guard made -- well, look at when I was in grade school in the '60s, there was probably a lot less money but you could buy a lot more with that money. I look at crossing guards now. I never saw a male crossing guard in the City of Philadelphia till lately, I mean, which means there's other people vying for the jobs, but they tend to be senior citizens. I see a couple, you know, retired gentlemen doing the job which is a good thing. But I have no idea -- and I probably should -- what maybe the crossing guard union can help us or the Police Commissioner can help us with those questions. Just what kind of benefits do they have? And is it a job where we should be looking for more revenue streams to increase -- you know, to bring people to that job, make it more enticing. 85 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

I agree. We are looking at that. And it's also part of union negotiations with that union.

Is that union under contract now? Are we still holding -- That's 33, right?

That's 33, local of 33, yes.

All right. All right. So there's no contract with them now.

That's right.

All right. Thank you. Thanks a lot.

Just one follow-up question on the training aspect. You had said -- You had corrected your statement saying that you had moved it from four hours to eight hours.

Yes.

Is the eight hours enough? I think you probably would agree with me that it is. And we're moving in a better direction. I'm just wondering how we could 86 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 maybe replicate some of the stuff that's done in Florida, some of the extensive training, and not only the initial training but then the kind of ongoing training that may happen.

I think -- In my mind it's two things. It's ongoing training, and it's making sure we have proper supervision. And I think those two things are probably more important than how much training you're giving them in the beginning. I think when we all go through training when we're starting a job, probably a lot of it doesn't sink in because we're just really not sure, you know, what we're getting into.

Who does the training?

I believe that's the Police Department.

Is it Traffic Division?

That has been moved to the Patrol Division, if I'm correct on that. 87 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

One of the things I've admired about the Police Department is the white hats know how to direct traffic.

Right.

If you put a blue hat where a white hat's supposed to be, it's a mess. I always remember when the Vet was opened, and August when people were on vacation and we had blue hats out there, it was like an absolute nuthouse. So, I'm wondering whether or not it makes any sense -- and I can explore this with the Police Commissioner -- that white hats do the training for crossing guards because they're doing kind of similar jobs, as opposed to Patrol. So, I'll raise that with the Police Commissioner.

We're obviously open to those suggestions.

Are there any other questions for these two witnesses? (No response.)

Thank you very 88 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 much for your attendance and for your patience. Police Commissioner Johnson, please.

Good afternoon. Please identify yourself for the record. POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: Good afternoon, Councilman Kenney, and members of the Legislative Oversight and Public Safety Committee. As you know, I'm Sylvester Johnson, Police Commissioner for the City of Philadelphia. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify today concerning the safety of Philadelphia's school children, as they make their way to and from school. Protecting our children and insuring their safety is a priority of this Police Department and of grave concern to me. We have worked cooperatively with the School District and other city departments, including the Managing Director's Office, to implement new initiatives to more strictly enforce existing 89 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 sound practices and to continue many of our own best practices. However, as we have seen over and over again, and as is always clearly stated in Councilman Kenney's report, law enforcement can't do it alone. The Police Department takes very seriously the safety of all children. What we have found is that every crime fighting or operational initiative we implement impacts on schools, school children and the communities they live in. Therefore, if we can keep our neighborhoods and communities safe, our children will also be safe as they travel to and from school. In addition to the many proactive measures we have put in place to address quality of life issues, the Police Department has implemented the following initiatives to combat crime in neighborhoods, that school children live and travel daily as well as to ultimately achieve compliance of our traffic safety law. 90 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 The Police Department initiated a citywide Priority Shooting Corner protocol. Under certain circumstances, when a shooting occurs, we establish a 24-hour-a-day foot patrol. This is only the first step. The district commander is required to ensure that the police presence is known throughout the neighborhood. Our focus is to saturate the neighborhood with police, City and community services to achieve our ultimate goal of making sure that additional violence does not occur and to rehabilitate the community. This includes enlisting the help of all possible units and agencies, to send the message that gun violence will not be tolerated. S. , Town Watch, community groups and activists. We have begun the Violence Strategy Meetings initiative which grows out of Priority Shooting Corners and Safe Streets Program. It is a coordinated law enforcement initiative, developed by the Philadelphia Police Department, to bring every law enforcement agency, both local and Federal in this general area, together weekly to address violent crime throughout the City of Philadelphia, including in and around schools and school zones. Specific cases and areas are targeted, and in an unprecedented fashion, information is shared, and strategies are developed between agencies and departments. Citywide Expansion of the Northeast Police Division School and Youth Violence Task Force, a program where individual police district captains and divisional inspectors convene regular meetings, intelligence 92 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 sharing and strategy development meetings among police commanders, school police, school administration, and other concerned, involved agencies such as the District Attorney's Juvenile Unit, Juvenile Probation, PAAN and SEPTA. These stakeholders in this fight against youth violence has had a variety of accomplishments which include vertical prosecution of violent juvenile fenders on fellow students. Successful drug enforcement operations outside specific high schools resulting in felony arrests. Placement of juvenile probation officers, part-time, in some high schools. Early intervention/prevention to ethnic/racial groups conflicts. Change of a bus location to reduce crime and conflicts at local stores.

The School Crossing Guard program will implement a training program, receive equipment within the next 30 days. A comprehensive training component 93 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 will be implemented for all school crossing guards in the next class. New hires will be required to have eight hours of training prior to being assigned to their respective posts. Existing hires will receive four hours of mandatory in-service training. The training consists of combined classroom instructions and actual intersection training. The training is complemented with additional video instructions and a training manual. You know, this training is given by our Police Academy. Each crossing guard will receive mandatory safety equipment which includes new paddles and reflective safety vests. Traffic initiatives have been implemented to achieve the Police Department's ultimate goal which is compliance with the Pennsylvania traffic laws. We must change the culture of our society to bring about change. As Dr. Brown, from Phoenix stated, safety is no accident. 94 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 Our traffic and patrol units are employing various enforcement mechanisms, including a greater police presence in targeted areas. The initiatives include: Targeted speed enforcement, different areas around the city each day. A trailer to show the speed of passing cars around schools, monitored by patrol. Coordination with Traffic Court. All moving violations are identified if they occur in school zones. Coordination with the State Police in a targeted effort to identify drivers speeding around and passing school buses. Information sharing between the Philadelphia Police Department and the School District police have proven invaluable. Unprecedented coordination of police efforts and information sharing is one of our most effective tools. School police have access to the Philadelphia Police Department Incident Transmittal System and pager system for 95 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 immediate notification of every significant incident occurring in the city. School police participate in COMPSTAT, and Philadelphia Police Department commanders are regularly questioned at COMPSTAT about school-related crimes and safety issues. I thank you for much for your continued support of the Police Department and leadership concerning the safety of Philadelphia. But in addition to that, in my opinion, I think there's a whole lot of other things that we can do and should be a lot more proactive than we have been in the past. We're announcing today -- What we're going to do is have a -- We're going to call Operation Safe Schools. , with the idea of becoming a lot more proactive than we ever did before. It will be an intelligence type unit. This group will be able to go into the different schools and get information, based on what's going on in the schools; but at the same time, they will get information what's going on in the neighborhood. Probation and Parole will also be a part of this unit. , where a lot of times if there is a child who has a problem in school and there is an incident that happened in school, we can get a whole history of this child. Probation and Parole can go in to the different neighborhoods. It will be similar to the old gang unit. And we can get this information where we can become or be able to proactive stop a lot of this happened. We'll have a 24-hour hot line 97 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 that's already -- the School District has already set up. With that information, I think what we can basically do is send people in there to educate the students also, where they can go and talk to the different classrooms about crime, about problems. We find sometimes that students will contact other people other than law enforcement people. With that information, we'll be able to use this information.

Since we haven't -- We're putting this all together right now, and hopefully within the next three or four weeks we will have this in place. My suggestion that it be run by a lieutenant from the Philadelphia Police Department, with a sergeant from the School District be part of this unit. But it will give us so much intelligence, so much information in the database, that we can start now doing things that we didn't do before. I think a lot of different people do 98 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 a whole lot of individual things, but we don't share it. We don't have the intelligence. But I think what this unit will do we'll be able to share it, we'll be able to have the intelligence, and we'll be able to act on it at any time.

Thank you, Commissioner. Just for a moment talk about some of the enforcement operations that have been increased as a result of all the attention being placed at the pedestrian issue. Have we significantly raised the number of tickets we have written for speeding in the school zone? And do you have those numbers? POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: Yes, we do. The inspector does.

Thank you. Please identify yourself for the record, Inspector. INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: Councilman, I'm Inspector Rebstock with the Traffic Division. 99 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 The speeding tickets for this school year are only six specific speeding violations. Altogether there was 71 violations written.

71 violations for speeding? INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: School violations, double parking. And a total -- I'm sorry -- of speeding violations. And 11 the State Police also wrote some. I don't 12 have the total number that they did.

Okay. So these are, again, similar to the testimony of the Managing Director, these are tickets that are written of intersection violations, violations in intersections around schools, but not necessarily speeding in the school zone. INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: That's correct. There's 12 for speeding...

Okay. INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: ...directly related to a school zone.

Where are they? 100 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 How were they geographically? Was that throughout the city -- INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: Yes.

-- or is that one specific area? INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: Random.

So, the ticket -- INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: Traffic Division controls three locations every morning, at three locations every afternoon.

Okay. So those tickets represent schools throughout the city, not just -- not just not a captain that happens to be aggressive about this... These are not all written from one or two districts. These are throughout the city? INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: That's correct.

That's fine. It doesn't -- I mean, I'm not criticizing because you only can issue a ticket when you see a violation. Does it seem like the right number or do you think that there is -- 101 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: I think Council --

Speculation, I understand... INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: Well, we utilize tracker devices. The police are very much obvious outside that school. So, you may have speeding on one day. And then as you said, if there's a police car sitting there...

Right. INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: ...they slow down.

Okay. But certainly more attention is being placed in the issuance of tickets -- INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: That's correct.

-- than there has been. And there is again, a roving, I guess roving three schools per day. INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: I think what we try to do is, we coordinate our information with the School District, and with the Patrol District captains. If there is a 102 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 speed-related problem, we go out and address that issue.

Now, do you have to speed gun them or can you just make a judgment based on the excessive speed? Do you have to get -- INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: We have what's called tracker devices.

Okay. INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: It's time and distance.

Okay. So you don't come up with an actual number of the miles per hour or anything. INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: Yes, we do.

Oh, you do. INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: Yes.

Okay. Okay. And are the District patrol people aware of this and trained in this? Do they participate in any way or is it just this unit? INSPECTOR REBSTOCK: There's some Districts that have this equipment. Mostly 103 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 those Districts that border, say, the Boulevard, Henry Avenue, places like that where there's a speed problem.

Okay. And are we expected at some point in time to have -- Once those corners have all been identified, the problem corners, and we rank them by priority, will those Districts then be kind of brought into this process? If we have 1300 corners or whatever it is, and they're ranked by severity, would the Districts then -- In those areas where there's numerous severe corners, would those Districts patrol people, not just the special unit, but the patrol people be brought onto this tracking system? POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: Okay. I think at this point we're looking into that for the different training. You know, in addition to the traffic that they do in the morning time, one of the things you mentioned earlier is about the amount of us we have in court during the daytime. 104 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 But at break, there is an additional 48 police officers from my neighborhood survey unit to go out to the different schools, the problem schools, based on the information they get from the School Board. With that information, then we will be able to go and send maybe six or seven police officers to almost every problem school that we're having, in addition to the traffic problems, the violence problems that we're having. But we're trying to look into all type areas that we can do, to, you know, enhance the enforcement that we now have presently.

Okay. Going to the issue of school violence, you've been around the department a long time. And you've seen... I mean, we've had fight in schools before. This is not the first time. Do you think this is any more serious than what we've have had in the past? Or I mean, it's getting more publicity than it has in the past. But do you think it's 105 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 any out of the extraordinary season of school violence? Or it just happens that the timing was one after the other kind of thing? POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: I personally don't believe it's any more now than it was before. And I think there is a lot more publicity. But at the same time, this is something that we really have to address. The other facts are that I think what's happening in the schools and happening in neighborhoods, there is no doubt the facts show that we have more school-age children shot and killed this year than we have ever had in the history of the city. And we have to address that problem. I think one of the things that this new initiative will do will give us the intelligence and the information about having people going there and getting it firsthand. I don't think there's any more probably where there were fights before. I think we put a lot more now -- The school department is reporting a lot more now. The 106 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 papers is reporting a lot more right now. But overall, I don't think it's that much different than it was in the past. Now, there's supposed to be an emergency of gangs at this point. We have pro and con on this. Some people say it is; some people say it's not. I think with this initiative we'll be able to tell us whether it is or not, because they will not just be focusing on schools. They will be focusing on neighborhoods also to get that information. You know, our statistics doesn't indicate that it's such a high level right now than it was in the last three or four years.

So you don't feel that your people are responding more to school violence incidents than they have in the past, as far as meeting outside police, Philadelphia Police, to respond in the school? POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: Well, I can't exactly -- Well, I don't believe -- 107 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04

If you don't have the answer, you can get it. I'm just speculating as to... I believe it's probably about the same that it's been in the past. I don't think it's an increase necessarily. POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: I don't either. But I think the coordination now between the School District, where it might have been happening in the school before, and there was really not a whole lot of communication between the school and the police, except for the district captain. But I think right now the information and the cooperation that we have now with the school police, and giving us more intelligence, more information, that these numbers are starting to go up; that we're more involved now because of the schools notifying us than they were in the past.

Similar to what happened when we -- when we were counting our crime statistics differently than -- than we did recently. It looked as if there was a 108 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 major spike, but in actuality, that spike was always there. We just weren't reporting it. POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: That's correct.

All right. Any questions for this witness? Councilman Ramos.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Commissioner, again, for coming before this body. Seems like you come here just about every other day. And we appreciate it. POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: Only when I'm invited.

We're so proud of the work that you do, and the way you go out of your way to address all these issues facing the people of Philadelphia. You and I were at a forum yesterday morning on a radio station about the issue of violence and to the degree that it has gotten. And it's at the schools, and it's 109 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 inside the churches now. A church got held up recently, and that's what triggered Sonny Hill to do his forum yesterday morning. When we scratch, and you guys dig into and do your investigations with the level of violence in the city, it always goes back to a four-letter word, drug, or five letter word, drugs. When you take a look deeper into this problem in the schools, are we seeing that what happens out in the community or what happens in the schools is a reflection of the communities and the state of a big problem in our city, and it being drugs. And yesterday I -- I stuck to that -- to that one problem because your stats over the years, and you in particular, you always go back to saying, is this plague of drugs. Do you see that maybe at the heart of this, and the more we dig into the violence in our schools, that this still might be an overflow of this big plague in our society called drugs? 110 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: I believe so. Drugs have devastated this city, and because we let it go such a long period of time. And I think it took us 25, 30 years to get into the condition that we're in today. We're probably not going to get out in one or two years. Last year we confiscated $140 million in drugs here in the City of Philadelphia. We're in November right now, and we're above that pace than we were this time last year. A lot of our... Quite naturally what we were finding, a lot of the violence are drug related. More so than gang related, they're drug related. And I think there's a lot of things that we have to do and a lot of ways we have to go. But I can also confidently say that law enforcement by itself will never be able to change those things, that it has to be a holistic type of approach that we all have to get involved. And I think the community, the faith-based organizations, the business 111 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 people, and a whole lot of other people. But I think we still have a major problem with drugs here in the City of Philadelphia, and the drugs that's connected to the violence. We still have the most purest heroin in the nation still in Philadelphia, almost 85 to 90 percent pure, at street level. So, there's a whole lot of things that we have to do. We're finding more females involved in some of the violence in the schools than we ever had before. I don't know what the reasons is, what that is for, you know, but that's something that he really have to look into. I think we have to do a lot more education, and be a lot more proactive than we've done before to get ahold of this.

Will you credit the incidents... And I know that, you know, maybe sometimes are the media doing its work. So, you know, sensationalizes, and it seems like it's happening in every school, and in 112 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 fact it is not; that it is still related to drugs. I mean, I remember you saying that... Actually, I see -- and I don't have the... I don't have the statistics nor the know-it-all to say -- to come to the conclusion that some of these gangs, whether they're formal gangs or not, that when you investigate and you get to the bottom of it, you land up with that word drugs, and this -- school fight -- and this school fight. Do you see that as something that is -- as a truth? POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: Again, I think drugs is a problem. But I think some of the issues that are happening in the school is not just drug related. There's so many. There's a lot of social problems involved with this. There's so many things that's involved in it. I said with the communication that we have with the school right now, we do that over COMPSTAT. And that our COMPSTAT... Every district that's up has to identify the 113 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 school. And the school police are there to give us the information if there is a problem. But you know, to answer your question -- And I guess the school board would be able to answer that better than me -- that a lot of the violence that they have that's drug related, I don't -- I see drugs as a problem. But I don't see it as the major problems inside the school, with the violence that they're having.

Because when you and I went to Dobbins, right, there were little gangs here and there. We didn't go the same years, but I know you were there a couple years before me, not much more. Not much more before me, though, I must admit. But there were gangs, but it was over girls, it was over a little turf. And you went outside, you might have had a fistfight. But all the gangs now form over money and drugs. So when I hear gangs now in our schools, I'm thinking that this is a spill 114 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 over of maybe some activities going on out in the street. POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: I think the biggest problem that we haven't mentioned so far is not the drugs or the gangs. Guns. The availability of guns that these children are having right now, that has really been totally completely out of hand. We're finding kids who were bullies and fighting years ago who would just be that. With the availability and amount of guns that we have, there's not just a fight, there's a shooting. And I guess it's close to 35 children who have been killed here in the City of Philadelphia. A lot of them are innocent victims. And the ones we have arrested, a large amount of the perpetrators were also under the age of 17. Again, Philadelphia has the distinction of leading the entire nation in handgun killings. Almost 82 percent of our homicides are by handguns. Things happened last week where we 115 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 had the guy and the two boys fighting. And he goes out there, and one kid's getting beat up. And he's a good Samaritan. He's going out there to help him. Normally that type of thing would be just ended. As he goes out there, some young person -- and we've identified that person at this point, who's a younger child -- pulls out a gun and kills him. Years ago -- In the last three or four weeks we've had three police shootings. Where at one time you would tell a person, drop your gun. And they would do it or stop. What they're doing right now is, saying, drop your gun, they're shooting. They're shooting at us, and we're shooting back. Things have changed so much in the availability of guns here in the City of Philadelphia. And I appreciate Council, with some of the legislation they're trying to put in place, to curb some of the gun violence. But it's not just gangs. It's 116 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 gangs/guns and the violence.

Commissioner, because I -- I see this city putting in a tremendous amount of resources. And your statement today just on the surface, I counted 18, different 8 organizations of government and community 9 groups that are involved with the Police 10 Department, teaming up. 11 And it's almost unreal -- It's 12 almost unbelievable that we have so many 13 people involved, so many agencies involved in 14 trying to address this problem. Yet it is 15 what it is today. 16 And you go in your statement to say 17 that we must change the culture of our 18 society to bring about this change. That's 19 one heck of a task, that we're going to have 20 to change the culture. And you probably are right. And you're still calling for more help. The people in the community, the parents and the schools need to get more involved. I know of a high school that's 117 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 putting together a parents' resource center to have their own parent's patrol. That has helped tremendously. And that's going to -- I believe is going to be implemented throughout the school system. I just admire the work that you're doing. You're doing a tremendous -- You're doing a tremendous amount of work in bringing all these different types of departments and organizations together to address this problem. But I think that in here your conscience was speaking. And I think you're probably right on the target, that unless we start changing the culture and of our society, that we're going to be waging this battle for a very long time. POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: Yes, sir. And I appreciate what Councilman Kenney has done to make this public, to bring it, you know, forth, to let the public hear everything that's going on, and what we're doing and what we're not doing. 118 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 And we should be held accountable for the things we do and the things we don't do. And I think the City Council has been tremendous in that effort. It's time to stop pointing fingers and come up with solutions. And I think this is the type of thing that's coming up with solutions. It's not pointing fingers. It's not a criticism type thing. It's an informative type thing. It's going to help everyone. And I appreciate that.

Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you. Councilwoman Miller.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Commissioner. POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: Good afternoon, Councilwoman.

I just want to make a few comments on the gang and the violence. As everyone knows, in my District we've had a surge of fighting by youth that 119 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 associate themselves with the neighborhoods that they belong in. And I think what I'm trying to do is not call them gangs. This last incident actually happened, I believe, over $20. And it wasn't drug related. And when they were fighting back in May and June, I have no clue why these children were fighting because they won't talk. We have had meetings with the individual gangs. We have had meeting with them as a collective group. We've actually gotten them to the point where they said they're going to have a truce. Dexter was there, so... And we've met with some of them separately. We spend so much money -- And there is a lot of energy and a lot of people involved. On Tuesday there is going to be 1,000 -- I know you're familiar with this -- a 1,000 man march coming out of the churches, and mainly the churches in Germantown. And many of the churches are located 120 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 right in the vicinity of Germantown High where lots of -- They're calling on men, and men organizations to participate, to circle the school in a show of unity, and in a way to say, let's stop the violence. I believe right now the violence has ceased. At least the gang type violence at Germantown High School. And hopefully if this works, we're going to use that model on other parts of the -- of my district, anyway, that are having problems with the gangs and youth behavior. I think that one of the things that this city needs to focus in on -- and I don't know how to do it -- and it's parenting and prevention and education. Because it appears -- And I think, actually, with the School Districts going to the model of eliminating the middle schools -- that this might be one way to help. Because I know in the Germantown area, there are young people coming from the middle schools, to team up with those at the 121 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 high school to go and fight at Germantown and Chelten. So I think eliminating the middle school will have a lot to do with, I think, control, and we may have a better way of influencing and doing some values clarification. But it also starts in the home. And it's important that we figure out a way to do whatever it is that we're going to do with parents, to provide, you know, our children with, you know, values that -- where they begin to understand that violence is not the way to be. But I need to raise a question now about school crossing guards. I was stopped this morning by two parents that are part of the Safe Corridor patrol at Steel Elementary School. The crossing guard there, they said to me, does not want to be at that corner. So, she has been out sick. And that leaves that school without a crossing guard. The police -- The 39th District has sent, you know, police there, I think pretty much off 122 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 and on. But I don't think -- I don't think the police are as maybe physically active as the crossing guards have been in the past. I know that we talked about the issue of if a crossing guard is out sick, that guard can't be replaced, that those dollars are held there, so you really can't afford to send another guard. Isn't that correct? POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: Well, it is and it isn't. And I think what happens is that person -- we set the corners based on priorities. And if we have a school crossing guard, and I can say the wrong thing, that she doesn't want to be on the corner, maybe we should just look for a replacement, a permanent replacement. At the same time I says I think the amount of officers that we have in the schools or the amount of officers we have in the court in the daytime, so even in the 39th District you're talking about they might have ten cars out there working the entire day.

123 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 In the meanwhile they have school crossings, but at the same time handling priority calls and not no emergency calls. So, we're looking into and evaluating every corner, but we have to put the guards where they're needed, not so much where they would like to be. So we're evaluating all this. We would love to have more crossing guards. I think the crossing guards does a tremendous job. But because of seasonal work, and because some of them, just like you said, they don't want to be on corner that they want to be on, that they're quitting. The rotation is really tremendous, that they stay for a while and then they leave. But when they join the department -- And they're part of the department right now, and they're about to go under traffic division for a lot of different reasons -- that they have to be concerned. And I do find most crossing guards are out there because of the concern that they have for 124 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 children. And they do a tremendous job. I've seen some go out there and buy clothes for children, go overboard to help children. So, we have to work very, very closely with them and we will. And I will look into that crossing guard at the 39th District, and what we can do about that specific corner.

Right. I agree. You know, the crossing guards do a really good job. I pass several of them on my way to work. But in this situation, school -- the corner where the guard is missing is on Germantown Avenue. And you know and I know how busy Germantown Avenue is in the morning and during the course of the day. So -- And it's not like they don't have parents out there. These parents actually had on their tee shirt that says Safe Corridor. So I mean, these are parents that are out there every day. And they brought 125 040791 - Oversight/Public Safety - 11/8/04 this up to me. In fact, they want to block traffic on Friday because of the lack of a crossing guard. POLICE COMMISSIONER JOHNSON: Well, I'll look into that as soon as I get back.

Okay. Thank you.