Police Commissioner attacks City Paper article and reporters

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey complained about a recent City Paper investigation into the use of summary citations to combat low-level crimes, like public drinking and selling single cigarettes, in an interview this morning on WHYY's Radio Times. Ramsey dismissed the story, which included criticisms of the "Broken Windows" policing strategy and examples of how citations impact poor people, people of color and the homeless.

He also lashed out at reporters who don't "live in one of these communities" but are "writing about it and then going up to Abington [in suburban Montgomery County] to go home where you don't have to deal with it."

"I don't know the person who wrote that article or other people that are calling and concerned about it, but it's a big difference from living in one of these communities and having to witness [drinking, urinating in public] every day from writing about it and then going up to Abington to go home where you don't have to deal with it," said Ramsey, who lives in a leafy neighborhood just off Lincoln Drive.

Here's the full transcript of the relevant parts:

Moss-Coane: I'm looking at something that the City Paper did, it's a review, I'm quoting, of Philadelphia police data that shows the number of so-called summary citations for minor offenses like loitering, drinking in public and selling "loosies" grew from 13,323 in 2009 to 23,000, almost 23,500, last year. According to the City Paper, an increase of some 76 percent.

Ramsey: Well but they've included in that SEPTA and other police departments, too, so it's misleading. Last year, the Philadelphia PD wrote 14,319 Summary Citations. That was down from 2012 when we wrote 15,293 citations. Again, these are summary offenses, drinking in public, urinating in public, things of that nature is what a summary citation...it doesn't require a physical arrest, we simply write them a ticket and they have to then pay a fine or appear in court to face the charges if they wish to appeal. So, again, quality of life, something that's very important. In that article they talk about Broken Windows, and that sort of thing, which has obviously been proven to be true. I mean there's a lot of disorder in many of these neighborhoods and we get a lot of complaints from people. I mean, you know, a lot of folks, and I don't know the person who wrote that article or other people that are calling and concerned about it, but it's a big difference from living in one of these communities and having to witness this every day from writing about it and then going up to Abington to go home where you don't have to deal with it.

M: You're saying it's suburban people...

R: No, that's not what I'm saying, but what I'm saying is that if you aren't exposed to it on a regular basis and you don't have to deal with it...I mean they they say, 'Okay, drinking in public thats no big deal, they only had a beer." Okay, well a lot of those guys they sit there and drink beer, but where do you think they go to relieve themselves after drinking that beer? On the side of somebody's house. I mean listen, these are the realities of what goes on in many of our communities, and we have an obligation to bring some relief to people who live in those communities, you know. So people can make of it what they want to make of it, but it is still illegal to do that. And if it's illegal we give you a citation, we're not taking you into custody, okay, unless it's associated with something else. But you can't just ignore it, because if you ignore it, it gets worse and eventually you're going to wind up with a very chaotic situation.

For what it's worth, both of these reporters, staff writers Ryan Briggs and Daniel Denvir, live in West Philadelphia within walking distance of the 19th Police District, which is the focus of the story. The Department should be peripherally aware that Briggs lives in the neighborhood: Last year, he wrote Ramsey a letter to commend two 18th District detectives for their work.

Ramsey also called the article "misleading," explaining that the rise in citation use is largely attributable to SEPTA police, while citations by city police have actually dropped since 2012. The City Paper article said there had been a 76 percent rise in the number of citations from 13,323 in 2009 to 23,458 last year. Much of the increase, the article says, can can be attributed to SEPTA police, who boosted the number of citations issued from one in 2011 to 8,725 last year. The number of citations issued by city police rose more modestly, the paper reported, from 13,128 in 2009 to 14,662 in 2013. 

And while the total number of city police citations did fall in 2013, last year's figures still represent a 12 percent increase since Ramsey took over the department. Ramsey had declined requests by City Paper for an interview for the article.

The City Paper investigation also makes clear that only a handful of police districts have embraced the tactic of cracking down on minor quality-of-life offenses, and presents the arguments in favor of broken-windows policing in great detail, including substantial excerpts from an interview with Captain Joseph Bologna, who took credit for a 75 percent increase in citation issuance in the 19th District.

Ramsey contends that districts like the 19th suffer from quality-of-life issues that foster other crimes, and that they deserve better. However, City Paper interviewed numerous residents who disagreed, and who say they have suffered under the crackdown. While Ramsey argues the benefits of embracing the broken-windows theory are "obvious," many criminologists think otherwise, and data has not provided clear evidence of the strategy's effectiveness.