It turns out that City Paper’s “Philly on the Potomac” writer Paul Fain added his own take on Ramsadelphia today with an even-handed, sober piece titled “D.C.’s former top cop heads north while Philly lawmakers gain Hill clout.”

(more…)

This week Philadelphia Weekly unveiled a half-reported, half-anecdotal “Here’s what to expect” article from writer Jonathon York, a D.C. transfer, about new top Philadelphia cop Charles Ramsey. The verdict may be best summed up in his last quote:

(more…)

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]