Rotary International To Host Community Peace Forum At MCCC

Blue Bell, Pa.—Rotary International Districts 7430 and 7450 will sponsor a Community Peace Forum on Saturday, Oct. 31 at Montgomery County Community College (MCCC), 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The theme of the forum is “Building Safer Communities: Communities & Law Enforcement Working Together.” The event is open to the public; law enforcement officials, criminal justice faculty and students, and community peace activists are encouraged to attend.

The forum begins at 10 a.m. with a panel discussion in MCCC’s Science Theater, and continues with a luncheon and keynote address by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey.  The panel discussion, which runs 10 a.m.-noon, is free of charge; the luncheon and keynote, which run from 12:30-2 p.m., cost $20. To register, visit bit.ly/PHLPeaceForum2015.

Rotary’s Peace Forum will engage participants in discussions about creating improved and sustainable relationships between members of law enforcement and the communities they serve. The event is designed to facilitate positive change through open dialogue and cooperation among stakeholders.

During the first part of the program, panelists will discuss issues that include ensuring high quality encounters between police and citizens; strengthening police-citizen relationships at the neighborhood level; and mobilizing community capacity to play an active role in public safety. Rotarian Joseph Batory, of the Philadelphia Rotary Club, will moderate the panel.

Panelists include: Jennifer Wood, associate professor of criminal justice at Temple University; Keith Hodges, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church; DF Pace, Rotary peace scholar and Philadelphia Police Department lieutenant, heading the Department’s Law and Criminal Procedure section; and Jayden Sampson, instructor of criminal justice, Montgomery County Community College. The luncheon and keynote address follow the panel discussion.

About Rotary

Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges locally and globally. Rotary sponsor 6 Peace and Conflict Centers around the world where community members can be nominated for a Master’s Degree program or a professional program for training attendees in conflict resolution. Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work impacts lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. For more information, visit rotary.org and rotarydistrict7430.org.

Obama Set To Praise Camden Policing; ACLU Has Concerns

President Obama is expected to speak at 3 p.m. in Camden, where administration officials say he will praise the work of the Camden County Police Department in establishing better ties with the community.

Camden is a “good example of a community that’s putting innovative strategies in place to advance community policing,” Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said in a conference call with reporters Sunday.

Obama chose to visit Camden because of its emphasis on community policing to reduce crime, Muñoz said. She noted that Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson had testified at one of the task force’s hearings in February.

Camden also is participating in Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, which the president launched last year to address persistent opportunity gaps for boys and young men of color.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150519_Obama_to_recommend_Camden_policing_as_national_model.html#262XoD8CAOx7O6Wy.99

Amtrak Derailment Death Toll Rises In Phildelphia

The death toll in the derailment of an Amtrak train in Port Richmond rose to seven Wednesday and could go higher as a team of federal rail experts begins an investigation to determine what caused the engine and all seven passenger cars to jump the tracks at a curve.

People close to the investigation in the meantime tell the Inquirer the train apparently was traveling well above the speed limit when it entered the sharp curve at Frankford Junction Tuesday night.

Officials said Wednesday more than 200 people were injured in the crash and taken to city hospitals and at least eight of them remained in critical condition.

The seventh fatality was found in the wreckage late Wednesday morning. No other details were immediately available.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20150514_Investigators_headed_to_Port_Richmond_to_probe_deadly_derailment.html#XFCsue8rITcXdqvA.99

Philadelphia’s Murder Rate At Historic Low: A Look At Why

When Philadelphia’s murder total fell to a historic low in 2013, officials believed it was no fluke.

Now, with 2014 at the same rate – and other violence also down – experts say the city is indeed getting safer.

With 248 slain, the toll is one above last year’s – and a 25 percent drop from 2012. But statistics show police in 2014 solved fewer killings than in 2013.

Overall, violent crime fell 7 percent.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150103_Phila__s_murder_rate_drops__A_look_at_why.html#zmVkOtUqefw3dcCO.99

D.A.: Three To Be Charged In Center City Attack

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The District Attorney’s Office today approved arrest warrants for three suspects in the Sept. 11 attack on a gay couple near Rittenhouse Square.

Philip Williams, 24, Kevin Harrigan, 26, and Katherine Knott, 24, will be charged with two counts of aggravated assault and related offenses in the incident, District Attorney Seth Williams said.

All three reside in Bucks County.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/dncrime/DA-Three-to-be-charged-in-Center-City-attack.html#fE36qMxkaKpdqW1x.99

2 Bodies Pulled From Schuylkill River In Philadelphia

Two men were stabbed, bound and their bodies sunk with a makeshift anchor in the Schuylkill River, while a third man found half-dressed said he had been abducted in a bizarre series of events off Kelly Drive early this morning.

Philadelphia police were at the scene along the east side of the river, just past the John Kelly statue, for several hours this morning trying to untangle what happened to the three men.

The surviving victim told investigators that he had been grabbed by a group of about five men, thrown in the back of a van, stabbed, robbed and taken to the river with the two men whose bodies were later pulled from water. The other two were already in the van when he was abducted, the victim told police.

The investigation began around 4 a.m., when officers were called to the 2300 block of Kelly Drive, just past the statue, for a report of a man screaming, Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2_pulled_from_Schuylkill_River_.html#Pqt8zJw3YJCdDiCQ.99

Six Philly Cops Charged With Robbery, Kidnapping, Extortion

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Stories of shakedowns, brutality, kidnapping, and theft have dogged a group of the city’s Narcotics Field Unit officers for nearly a decade. But despite multiple investigations, cases against them never stuck.

Federal prosecutors set out to change that Wednesday, laying out a sprawling racketeering case against six of the unit’s former members. The charges paint them as rogue cops running roughshod over the rights of their targets, confident that few would believe anyone who dared complain.

As the years went on, the 26-count indictment suggests, Officers Thomas Liciardello, Brian Reynolds, Michael Spicer, Perry Betts, Linwood Norman, and John Speiser became only more brazen.

Between February 2006 and November 2012, it states, they stole more than $500,000 in cash, drugs, and personal property – all while using extreme force, and falsifying police reports to downplay their takes.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20140731_Sources__6_cops_arrested_in_federal_corruption_probe.html#pWDPXOjjIRGx2K3V.99

Two Students Shot At Logan Charter School

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two 15-year-old students were wounded Friday afternoon in what may have been an accidental shooting inside a charter high school in Logan, Philadelphia police said.

One of the victims, a girl who was shot through the arm, was treated at Einstein Medical Center, just blocks away from Delaware Valley Charter High School, where the shooting occurred. She was released from the hospital later in the day.

The second victim, her boyfriend, was struck by the same bullet, which lodged in his shoulder, police said. He remained at the hospital Friday night.

The shooting, which sent parents scrambling to find out if their children were safe, came two days after a 17-year-old boy was arrested for bringing a loaded handgun to a West Philadelphia charter school.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20140118_Breaking__Two_students_shot_at_charter_school.html#EzOvRdAkfh5CfyY1.99

Homicides On Track For 45-Year Low In Philadelphia

Homicides in Philadelphia in 2013 are on pace for the lowest midyear total in nearly half a century, police figures show, putting the city in reach of a modern-day low at year’s end.

As of Friday, with three days left in the six-month period, police had recorded 115 homicides, a 38 percent drop from the same period last year.

The half-year figures are a promising sign for a city that in recent years has held the dubious distinction of being the nation’s most violent big city.

Mayor Nutter, top police officials, and prosecutors, along with criminal-justice experts, say the decrease in homicides reflects a new emphasis on data-driven policing, a crackdown on gun criminals, and sweeping reforms in the criminal courts.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130630_Homicides_on_track_for_45-year_low_in_Philadelphia.html#WveCycR2JxYQ9MoR.99

Philadelphia’s Homicide Tally Shows Dramatic Drop

English: This is my own work, Public Domain Photograph, not copyrighted Ed Yakovich http://www.flickr.com/photos/10396190@N04 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Great news!

PHILLY’S HOMICIDE rate is raising some eyebrows – but this time, it’s for all of the right reasons.

From the start of the year through Wednesday night, 54 homicides were recorded, a 39 percent drop from the same period a year ago, according to police statistics.

Shootings were down 20 percent, from 274 to 218, and overall violent crime fell 9 percent through March 31, the last date for which those figures were available.

For a city that has long been haunted by stubbornly high homicide tallies, the lower figures represent an encouraging sign of progress.

Whether that progress can be maintained through the notoriously violent spring and summer months is anyone’s guess.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130405_Philadelphia_s_homicide_tally_shows_dramatic_drop.html