Charles H. Ramsey, Cleanup in Aisle Philly
Meet Charles H. Ramsey, the former Washington, D.C., police chief tapped to be Philadelphia’s crime-fighting savior earlier this afternoon by mayor-elect Michael Nutter.
In July 2006, Ramsey famously declared that D.C. was in the middle of a “crime emergency” (sound familiar?) after 14 people had been killed in the first 11 days of the month. Ramsey quickly deployed 3,800 officers to various hot spots around the city, a tactic that seemed to have short-term benefits was abandoned after he stepped down in late 2006. Ramsey was most recently in the news in October, when he was passed over for Baltimore’s top spot in favor of an in-house choice.
So, will Ramsey be good for us? Ask a D.C.-er and you’ll get mixed reviews. Strictly from a numbers perspective, one D.C.-based newspaper reporter spells it out this way: “In his almost 10 years here, crime went down dramatically — from 260 homicides in 1998 to 169 last year. There was also a ton of gentrification in the city, which contributed to the crime drop. Since he left, crime’s gone up.”
But we’re getting ourselves a loudmouth, too: “He’s not quiet or gentle. He’s the master of the sound bite. I don’t think the city will be disappointed on that front.”
Yes, maybe he’s not John Timoney or one of “Bratton’s Brigade,” many of whom Nutter was rumored to be all tingly over, but he is, at least, an outsider with a mission to wake up an insular department.
Nutter names D.C’s Ex-top cop as commissioner [Philly.com]
D.C’s Crime Emergency [Washington Post]
November 15th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Charles Ramsey…you have no idea what you are in for. I don’t even know if this is an improvement. He does have the experience. As a former D.C. resident, I can remember the murder rate being out of control for their standards (not for ours apparently…*rolls eyes*), but what happened with gentrification, most D.C. residents moved into the surrounding counties, specifically Prince Georges, and spiked their crime rates to crazy heights. He wasn’t around to see that. I don’t know if he’s the guy but anyone except our current regime is welcome to try to fix this…
November 15th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Mayor Nutter - BIG mistake. The DC murder rate dropped because of DC’s late decline of the Crack explosion. Ramsey was credited as dropping police morale lower than any of the evil Barry years. He avoids political issues by simply firing officers who get complaints, costing the city millions in civil service lawsuits and awards, not to mention the fact that the cops who get complaints are also the ones doing the work. Philly is a great city with real tradition, and needs a real cop to get it back to where it needs to be, like Tim Longo, John Timoney, Jerry Oliver, Rodney Monroe, or Bill Bratton. Ramsey will deplete the great traditions of the Philadelphia Police and ruin the brotherhood within the department, fostering a culture of people who cannot think outside of the box or use their own discression…two MANDITORY tools a cop should have.
Would you work the streets of Philly for $53K if you knew you’d be fired for minor citizen complaints? Didn’t think so. Nutter’s (right) idea of increased stop and frisks and a Guiliani approach to cleaning up the streets cannot be accomplished with a political hack like Ramsey at the helm.
I feel for the good men and women of the PPD, they’ll be needing all the luck they can get.
November 15th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
a “Real” cop! Are you kidding? Only a real power hungry fool would say that a Stop and Frisk policy was right for Philadelphia. As a life-long resident citizen and employee in Philadelphia I wonder if Nutter would believe random stops of people would be fine if he lived in an area where this will happen. Talk about a police state! I understand that crime is high, but there has to be another way.
November 21st, 2007 at 10:31 am
Charles,
Please contact me. From Ms Baker’s class, Saint George, Chicago
November 25th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
I can’t help commenting on my experience of being arrested during a peaceful and permitted protest against the Iraq war under Ramsey’s orders in 2002. A docile crowd was gathering in Pershing Park DC to protest the war when police encircled the park and arrested over 400 of us including protesters, joggers and local workers on their lunch breaks. We spent a couple days warehoused in a police academy gym all with our wrists zip tied to ankles, before most of us who agreed to sign guilty pleas were released. This was nothing short of a mass political roundup intended to harrass us and gather our information.
Since then, Ramsey has been forced to admit guilt and apologize. And DC has just started paying out the millions its lost in class action suits for that one. Now Ramsey will be in official capacity to stop and frisk whom he wants in our already troubled neighborhoods. I’m not feeling optimistic.
January 23rd, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Now They really creative a group of monster.. Narc agent just went into a house and took over nine hundred dollars worth of jewelry 4 ipods t mobile wing cellphone and now nobody is listening.. I called 29 3 6 10 57 and their asking machine or now coming on and they to get in touch with mr Charles Ramsey too.. That some hell of a way to stop crime….It happen tonight.. 2152231785…