The 8:30 Report: What Philly’s Talking About
Rollocops: In the first step toward melding crime-fighting man and killer machine, police on foot beats on South Street and in Manayunk and Southwest Philadelphia will tool around on four Segway units in a 10-day trial. Police departments around the country have been adding large numbers of the “personal mobility devices” (read: future laser cannon platforms) to their arsenals. [Inquirer]
Council, Nutter defy state on gun legislation: And the state … blinks. Five pieces of gun-control legislation, including a mandate to report lost and stolen guns that was removed from a recent state House bill, sailed unanimously through Council yesterday and received Mayor Nutter’s immediate approval. State Senate counsel Stephen MacNett told the Metro “We don’t need to rush to court on this.” [Metro]
Casino-Free Philadelphia on the march: Everyone’s favorite local casino haters rallied at Ed Rendell’s Center City office yesterday, calling on the governor — who wasn’t actually there — to acknowledge that Foxwoods and SugarHouse will, by their reckoning, cost the city $50 million a year in policing costs and gambling addiction treatment. [KYW]
It was probably gold-plated: William Penn Charter School is closed today as police search for a handgun that was taken from an adult’s car — perhaps unknowingly, as it was inside a purse. School officials emphasize that there has been no threat against the school, and it is unlikely the weapon is still on campus. [Inquirer]
