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Sylvester Johnson Outlines Plan to Combat Crime

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

December 20, 2005 -- The streets of Philadelphia have seen a significant increase in certain violent crimes this year, most notably the homicide rate. Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson addressed this issue late Tuesday.

Commissioner Johnson says he hopes to have his new initiative operating at full tilt right after New Year's to hit the city's many hot spots for violence.

4 major points in the plan:

More aggressive serving of outstanding warrants.

Detectives will actually be out on the street patrolling after major crimes.

More manpower on duty into the wee hours of the morning.

And a major crackdown on curfews for minors on warrants.

Police will be partnering up with local court officers and federal marshals to help serve warrants and make arrests. The logic, many of the wrongs are known to police already so why not scoop them up before they strike again?

Sixty-seven cops have just been promoted to detective and they'll be out patrolling. And the shifting of work schedules meet the grave needs of the peak hours for murder and mayhem. Close to 70% of the shootings happen after midnight.

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