Search Results
Below are your search results. You can also try a Basic Search.
(03/26/97 10:00am)
This article appeared in the joke issue. Members of Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania Lodge 113 -- which represents University Police officers -- were shocked yesterday when they read several "questionable" provisions in their recent contract agreement with the University. In addition to a requirement that every officer must make at least one arrest each day, the contract also explicitly forbids officers from entering the Uni-Mart convenience store at 40th and Locust streets. But Division of Public Safety officials were also surprised by some of the contract's fine-print clauses, particularly the ones allowing officers to carry extra weapons and turn on a patrol car's sirens even when they are not responding to an incident report. University Police officers had been working without a contract since August 1 until last week's agreement. Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush adamantly refused to comment on the terms of the contract, citing an agreement between the FOP and the University not to comment on the contract to the media until the year 2097. "For the last time, I can't comment on anything," Rush said, although she admitted that some things slipped by the University's crackerjack negotiating team. University Police Cpl. and FOP Lodge President Hugh "Bucky" McBreen also declined comment on the newly discovered contract terms, but expressed anger at the provision that officers could no longer frequent Uni-Mart, their "favorite pit stop." "When you went in there, everyone knew your name," McBreen said, noting that Philadelphia Police officers are still permitted to shop at Uni-Mart. "It was like one big happy family." McBreen added that University Police officers are currently searching for a new campus convenience store in which to loiter. The 7-Eleven at 38th and Chestnut streets tops their list, he said. "Wawa might have Taco Bell, but 7-Eleven's Super Big Gulp is just an unbeatable deal," he said. Public Safety Managing Director Thomas "Tommy Boy" Seamon refused to comment on the contract, but explained that University Police officers who do not meet the one-arrest-per-day requirement for three days will be immediately fired. "It will be like, 'Three strikes and you're out,' " Seamon said. "A lot of other police departments are starting to do the same type of thing." Seamon -- who said he expects a high level of employee turnover from this new requirement --Eadded that Public Safety should have no trouble filling the vacancies left by fired officers. "I mean, we had over 30,000 applicants for those 20 people we just hired," he said. FOP attorney Dianne Sheppard, however, expressed delight at the clauses she said the FOP's negotiators "sneaked in there." "Our guys will be able to carry two, four, even seven guns," she said. "Criminals won't even want to go near the University of Pennsylvania campus anymore." Sheppard added that the FOP has been fighting for the siren clause since the contract negotiations began approximately eight months ago. But Rush said she is worried that University Police officers will now turn on their sirens in non-emergency situations, such as when they need to refill their stomachs at Wawa. "We have to say to them, 'Look, you can't run red lights just to get that last Boston Creme donut,' " she added.
(03/26/97 10:00am)
This article appeared in the joke issue. The Associated Press IN THE CLOUDS -- Former President George Bush announced a full schedule of daredevil stunts yesterday after his successful parachute jump from an airplane over the Arizona desert. In a press conference held at the Yuma Proving Ground, the 72-year-old former chief executive said he would bungee jump, parachute, sky surf and execute "tricky Evel Knievel-style motorcycle jumps" during a national tour that will crisscross all 50 states over the next six months. "Read my lips: I know I can do this," Bush said at the conference, adding that he has completed extensive training in preparation for the various stunts he plans to perform. "My body is 72 years young, not 72 years old," he said. "I've consulted with Jack La Lanne on this, and he's all for it." Bush's tour will begin Monday at the NCAA men's basketball championship game in Indianapolis, at which the former president will bungee-jump from the roof of the RCA Dome and dip a tortilla chip in a jar of salsa located on the basketball court. Even though a similar promotion during this year's Super Bowl was canceled after a stuntperson died while practicing the same type of maneuver inside New Orleans's Superdome, Bush said that incident did not prevent him from doing the stunt. "It wouldn't be prudent at this juncture" to cancel the event, Bush said, citing a contract agreement with Frito-Lay, the manufacturer of Tostitos tortilla chips. President Clinton issued a statement yesterday calling Bush's proposed tour "honorable but risky." "The folks back home in Arkansas should really dig this kind of stuff," Clinton said in the statement. After the jump in Indianapolis, Bush will visit numerous county fairs in the Midwest before heading south to the Bible Belt, according to the schedule released at the press conference. Bush will attempt to skydive from high above Philadelphia into the Lower Quad, the source said. Texas Governor George W. Bush said he is worried that his elderly father could be seriously injured in one of the stunts. "Jeb and I don't want our daddy to get hurt," the younger Bush said. Famed stuntman Evel Knievel was unavailable for comment.
(03/26/97 10:00am)
This article appeared in the joke issue. Members of Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania Lodge 113 -- which represents University Police officers -- were shocked yesterday when they read several "questionable" provisions in their recent contract agreement with the University. In addition to a requirement that every officer must make at least one arrest each day, the contract also explicitly forbids officers from entering the Uni-Mart convenience store at 40th and Locust streets. But Division of Public Safety officials were also surprised by some of the contract's fine-print clauses, particularly the ones allowing officers to carry extra weapons and turn on a patrol car's sirens even when they are not responding to an incident report. University Police officers had been working without a contract since August 1 until last week's agreement. Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush adamantly refused to comment on the terms of the contract, citing an agreement between the FOP and the University not to comment on the contract to the media until the year 2097. "For the last time, I can't comment on anything," Rush said, although she admitted that some things slipped by the University's crackerjack negotiating team. University Police Cpl. and FOP Lodge President Hugh "Bucky" McBreen also declined comment on the newly discovered contract terms, but expressed anger at the provision that officers could no longer frequent Uni-Mart, their "favorite pit stop." "When you went in there, everyone knew your name," McBreen said, noting that Philadelphia Police officers are still permitted to shop at Uni-Mart. "It was like one big happy family." McBreen added that University Police officers are currently searching for a new campus convenience store in which to loiter. The 7-Eleven at 38th and Chestnut streets tops their list, he said. "Wawa might have Taco Bell, but 7-Eleven's Super Big Gulp is just an unbeatable deal," he said. Public Safety Managing Director Thomas "Tommy Boy" Seamon refused to comment on the contract, but explained that University Police officers who do not meet the one-arrest-per-day requirement for three days will be immediately fired. "It will be like, 'Three strikes and you're out,' " Seamon said. "A lot of other police departments are starting to do the same type of thing." Seamon -- who said he expects a high level of employee turnover from this new requirement --Eadded that Public Safety should have no trouble filling the vacancies left by fired officers. "I mean, we had over 30,000 applicants for those 20 people we just hired," he said. FOP attorney Dianne Sheppard, however, expressed delight at the clauses she said the FOP's negotiators "sneaked in there." "Our guys will be able to carry two, four, even seven guns," she said. "Criminals won't even want to go near the University of Pennsylvania campus anymore." Sheppard added that the FOP has been fighting for the siren clause since the contract negotiations began approximately eight months ago. But Rush said she is worried that University Police officers will now turn on their sirens in non-emergency situations, such as when they need to refill their stomachs at Wawa. "We have to say to them, 'Look, you can't run red lights just to get that last Boston Creme donut,' " she added.
(03/25/97 10:00am)
A preliminary hearing for three Zeta Psi brothers will take place April 10. The three University students recently charged with arson are scheduled for an 8 a.m. preliminary hearing April 10 at the Philadelphia Police Department's 18th District Headquarters, police said. The District Attorney's office charged Engineering junior Zayd Hammam, College sophomore Seth Schorr and Engineering sophomore Tim Young with arson -- a felony charge -- after they allegedly set fire to a lunch box on the porch of the Tabard Society house at 41st and Pine streets in late February. University Police Detective John Peterson explained that the maximum penalty for an arson conviction consists of 15 to 25 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. But Peterson said the three Zeta Psi brothers would be unlikely to receive a sentence that harsh if convicted, noting that none of the students has a prior criminal record and that they admitted in a statement that the incident "was just a prank gone crazy." University Police Detective Frank DeMeo -- who has been investigating the incident -- said the students will probably not be significantly punished because no one was injured in the incident and the Tabard property was not seriously damaged. But he added that the lack of injuries or damage stemming from the incident "doesn't diminish the seriousness of the whole escapade." And DeMeo noted that the University took the crime seriously by referring it to the Office of Student Conduct within one or two days of the incident. "Fire is not one area where you can be liberal because too many things can get out of control," he said. The preliminary hearing for the three Zeta Psi brothers -- during which the District Attorney's office will attempt to show that a crime was committed and that the three suspects probably committed the crime -- will be held at the local police precinct headquarters at 55th and Pine streets. Peterson said a number of paths are possible for the case -- ranging from the defendants and the District Attorney's office agreeing to hold a jury trial, to the judge at the preliminary hearing choosing to "throw the whole thing out except for the charge." Office of Student Conduct Director Michele Goldfarb would not confirm yesterday whether her office was considering disciplinary procedures for the three students, noting that she would be violating the students' confidentiality if she discussed any aspects of the case. But Goldfarb stressed that it was "important to keep [the incident] in perspective and get all the facts accurately to give an accurate picture of what occurred and what the intent was." She added that the University plans "to seek a constructive and very reasonable resolution" to the matter. Zeta Psi President and College sophomore Carter Caldwell said last month that the fraternity had suspended the students pending the results of the investigation. But in a letter published in the February 28 edition of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Tabard Society President and Wharton senior Jennifer Chow defended the three suspects "as caring and considerate individuals [who] did not intend to harm the women of the Tabard Society."
(03/24/97 10:00am)
One year later, a look at Thomas Seamon's plan. In the 12 months since Public Safety Managing Director Thomas Seamon released his master plan for campus security, the department has accomplished or begun work on many of the 40-page document's proposals for improving policing and security as well as town-gown relations. But the high-minded plan is also notable for what it does not contain among its proposals, including many of Public Safety's most highly touted improvements -- increasing the total number of University Police officers and the number of security guards west of 40th Street, opening a temporary Public Safety mini station on 40th Street and the creation of a 40th Street action team. It is no coincidence that the University has focused much of its safety efforts on 40th Street -- the road more or less constituting a campus border where College senior Patrick Leroy was shot September 25 after a wave of robberies in that area. And although officials have maintained that the shooting merely expedited the hiring of new patrol officers which had been in the works for some time -- the other major security initiatives not mentioned in Seamon's plan are clearly attributable to the fall-semester crime wave and Halloween night murder of University biochemist Vladimir Sled near 43rd Street and Larchwood Avenue. While praising the strategic plan and some of its specific goals, critics have chided Seamon for leaving out timetables or details on many of the initiatives -- hinting that the lack of particulars might produce a corresponding lack of enthusiasm in the department's pursuit of the goals. But in a recent interview, Seamon defended his decision to leave such specifics out of the plan. "One of the reasons specifically that I did not put dates in the strategic plan is because when we put it together we didn't know how long many of these things would take," he said. Seamon's plan is the third such proposal released in as many years, including a 1994 plan released by then-Police Commissioner John Kuprevich, whom Seamon replaced in 1995. Seamon's no-frills document divides the department's numerous goals into four areas -- police, security, government and community operations. But despite the quantity of impromptu initiatives, many of the plan's approximately 27 separate objectives have already been accomplished or are works in progress: · Seamon announced a $3 million contract last October with the Sensormatic Electronics Corporation to provide a state-of-the-art campus security system. · The University purchased properties on the 4000 block of Chestnut Street that will house the entire Division of Public Safety starting next year. · In addition to the 40th Street improvements, plans are in the works for a University City Special Services district similar to one in Center City. · The University contracted with SpectaGuard to consolidate security guard operations on campus. · The University Police command structure was overhauled in January 1996. · University Police doubled their investigative staff by hiring four former Philadelphia Police detectives. · Many officers have been certified to use new semiautomatic handguns. But the department has run into some delays and difficulties with other parts of the strategic plan, sometimes due to unforeseeable circumstances. For instance, Seamon explained that city red tape, factory shortages and community opposition have delayed the installment of 66 new emergency blue-light telephones. "I'm impatient," he said. "[The phones] should have been up by now." Anesthesiology Professor Sean Kennedy, chairperson of University Council's Safety and Security Committee, said although he had not looked at the plan "in quite a while," it "addressed what I think needed to be addressed" and did not contain "any glaring omissions." Not everyone, however, has been satisfied with the plan. PennWatch President Jon Brightbill criticized the plan's complete omission of any specific dates by which initiatives would have to be accomplished. "My major problem with the plan was and always has been? that there's no time schedule," said the Wharton senior, who also serves on the Council committee. "There's no real commitment and pressure to get it done in a timely manner." But he added that "I'm generally pleased with the security on campus and the direction the department is going." A 24-year University veteran, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics Professor Noam Lior --who is also on the committee -- described Seamon's strategic plan as "really a well-managed program." But he lamented its lack of timetables, saying he does not know "how quickly this is going to happen." Lior stressed that the plan does not sufficiently address what he feels is the most important issue facing the University -- the state of the surrounding community. Seamon's plan aims to improve partnerships with West Philadelphia neighborhood organizations, but does not outline proposals for economic assistance for the depressed area. "They're talking about community relations and involving the community more," Lior said, but added that these efforts largely consist of "all kinds of little meetings where a few people show up." And he said the University is fighting a "losing battle" with the Philadelphia Police Department, explaining that as the University expands and improves its police force, the city cops "move away." A Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson, however, recently told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the department has no plans to reduce the number of its officers patrolling University City. Perhaps recognizing the city's alleged shortcomings in police protection, Seamon's plan states the department's intent to "position the University Police with the authority and the ability to provide total police services, regardless of the constantly changing priorities and level of resources of the Philadelphia Police." Others around the University were quick to praise Seamon's plan. University Police Cpl. Hugh McBreen -- president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 113, which represents all University Police officers -- applauded the department's progress on implementing the plan. "To the best of my knowledge, it's running smoothly," he said. "I see more things happening [than under Kuprevich]." College sophomore Courtney Fine, chairperson of the Undergraduate Assembly's Safety Committee, said she believes the Division of Public Safety "really considered the students' concerns and the concerns of faculty members as well" in devising the master plan. Seamon -- a former deputy Philadelphia Police commissioner who was appointed to head Public Safety in 1995 --Esaid he is "very encouraged" by the progress made on the plan but emphasized that it is impossible to keep crime to a steady level and placed the burden for preventing such crime squarely on University Police. "Crime is really a pendulum that swings back and forth," Seamon said. "We'll have slack periods and we'll have periods where crime will go up again, and then during those periods it is up to us to be as effective as we can to make arrests and take the perpetrators off the streets." Noting that the strategic plan is "open-ended," Seamon has had to reconsider one of the plan's proposals which called for the formation of a University-wide police advisory council. "There is already a very consultive process on campus that I think I wasn't fully aware of when I first put this strategic plan together," Seamon said, adding that "no one in the University, be it a student, staff [member], faculty [member] or neighbor is hesitant about telling me exactly what they feel about a particular subject."
(03/24/97 10:00am)
A fatal shooting in Southwest Philadelphia Friday afternoon resulted in a police chase that ended near campus at 43rd and Pine streets, police said. Kevin Jasper, a 20-year-old resident of the 5200 block of Florence Avenue, was pronounced dead on the scene with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and head, according to Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Capt. Joseph Mooney. Police discovered Jasper in the rear seat of a dark blue Mercedes driven by 26-year-old Anthony Murphy, also of the 5200 block of Florence Avenue, Mooney said. Murphy -- who police said was shot in the back of the head -- was immediately transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he remained in critical condition as of last night. The two men were shot on the 1500 block of South Wilton Street -- near 52nd Street and Woodland Avenue -- at approximately 5:30 p.m., Mooney said. Police began to follow the car after observing it driving erratically at 43rd Street and Woodland Avenue. The vehicle was involved in an accident at 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue but sped off, only to crash into a parked yellow station wagon at 43rd and Pine streets, police said. Mooney said Jasper was pronounced dead at 7:15 p.m. He noted that police have not yet made any arrests in connection with the fatal shooting, adding that detectives investigating the incident do not know the motive behind the homicide. Although a report in Saturday's Philadelphia Inquirer said that Murphy had been wearing a bulletproof vest as he drove the car, Mooney said yesterday that he could not confirm which of the two men had been wearing the vest. Abdul Ahmed -- a delivery driver for Colonial Pizza at 43rd and Pine streets --Esaid he had been driving in front of the Mercedes, which had one door open and was swerving from side to side. After Ahmed pulled over to the side of the road, the Mercedes hit the yellow car, he said, adding that the driver -- who had blood on his face and shoulders -- was carrying a gun when he got out of the car. Mooney declined comment on whether police had recovered any weapons from either Murphy or Jasper. Another witness, College junior Joe Conley, said he and his roommates saw the car's driver dash toward a police officer who had drawn his handgun. He explained that the driver then sat down in a police car's front passenger seat, but moved to the rear seat after the same police officer told him to "get out." Conley, who said he witnessed the scene from the window of his apartment at 43rd and Spruce streets, said he heard the driver tell police he knew who was responsible for his shooting and that of the Mercedes' passenger. "'I know who did it'," Conley quoted the driver as saying. Conley added that a police van transported the driver from 43rd and Pine streets. "It's just a strange thing to see on a Friday after school," he said. Daily Pennsylvanian Campus News Editor Marisa Katz contributed to this report.
(03/21/97 10:00am)
The cause of the four-alarm blaze at 33rd and Chestnut streets March 9 that gutted the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church has been traced to the building's electrical wiring, Philadelphia Fire Department officials said. The Fire Marshal's office concluded Tuesday that the fire was caused by "temporary construction string wiring and lighting" on the 113-year-old building's first-floor ceiling, department spokesperson Capt. Henry Dolberry explained. The building -- which was to open as the Charles Addams Fine Arts Hall in August 1997 --Ewas almost completely destroyed by the blaze. The University had been renovating the facility for the last several years. Dolberry said no further details were available on the fire's cause, adding that while he did not know exactly how the fire started, the wires and lights apparently "came into contact with combustibles." He explained that the lights and electrical wiring -- which had been located on the building's north side, away from Chestnut Street -- were typical of those found at most construction sites. An investigator from the Fire Marshal's office said she did not have any additional information on the fire's cause, noting that the head investigator examining the church fire was unavailable for comment. Vice President for Facilities Management Art Gravina and Graduate School of Fine Arts Dean Gary Hack were unavailable for comment yesterday. University spokesperson Ken Wildes said officials were relieved that the fire was not ruled an arson. "It was our understanding that the investigation was pointing toward accidental cause," Wildes said. "You never want to think that a University facility is the target for something untoward." He added that University officials expect to complete construction of a new facility on the church site between September 1998 and December 1998. "That, I think, is what everyone's pointing toward as the best solution right now," Wildes said, noting that officials will attempt to save the portion of the church's facade that was not severely damaged by the blaze. Although final figures will not be available for another two to three weeks, the cost of the damage has been estimated at approximately $3.5 million, Wildes said. Gravina said earlier this week that the fire struck as renovations to the building were approximately halfway toward completion and construction workers were finishing work on the building's new third floor. "We're all very disappointed," Gravina said earlier this week. "We were so close to getting it done -- it would have been a real jewel." More than 120 firefighters -- working with more than 30 fire trucks and other vehicles -- brought the roaring fire under control within an hour after it started.
(03/19/97 10:00am)
After rejecting a contract three weeks ago, the FOP accepted a deal that provides officers with a 3 percent raise in '98 and '99. Bringing an end to months of federally-mediated negotiations, members of Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania Lodge 113 -- which represents University Police officers, corporals and detectives -- voted Monday to approve a three-year contract with the University. The officers had been working without a contract since August 1. Three weeks ago, FOP members voted down a contract negotiated by the union's leadership with University officials. As part of the new contract, only the approximately 20 new officers hired this month by the Division of Public Safety will have to rotate periodically among the department's three eight-hour shifts, Human Resources spokesperson Bruce Fisher said. Fisher confirmed that the contract -- which runs through July 31, 1999 -- provides officers with a 3 percent raise for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 contract years. But officers will not receive a pay raise retroactive to the current year -- during which they have worked without a contract. Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush refused to comment on the terms of the new contract, explaining that the FOP and the University had agreed not to comment on the contract to the media. But in a written statement released jointly by the two sides, Rush said the University was "pleased that the negotiations have concluded." She added that "[the University is] especially gratified that the [University Police Department's] service to the Penn Community remained at its usual high levels during the course of these talks." Cpl. Hugh McBreen, the FOP's lodge president, stressed in the statement that the union "strongly represented its members to arrive at these terms." "All parties will continue to look at other areas of benefits concern but we're pleased with the settlement we've reached with Penn," he added. And Public Safety Managing Director Thomas Seamon declined to comment on the contract, saying only that he is "happy" with the agreement. But while the union has approved the new contract, Fisher said the two sides are still negotiating pension and benefit issues. Several police officers who requested anonymity said the terms of Monday's agreement improved on the previous proposal. The contract that FOP members rejected in late February would have required all officers to rotate occasionally among the department's three 8-hour shifts. Many officers objected to this provision because it would have required regular changes in their work schedules. And in an apparent response to those objections, Monday's agreement changed that provision to apply only to the approximately 20 new University Police officers slated to join the force this month. But like last month's rejected contract, the new deal withholds retroactive pay raises, providing FOP members with wage increases only in the contract's last two years. A representative from the National Labor Relations Board mediated the contract negotiations shortly after they began last June. Because of state laws preventing University Police officers -- who are classified as private employees -- from requesting binding arbitration, and national union bylaws prohibiting members from going on strike, the FOP and the University had to reach an agreement through face-to-face negotiations.
(03/18/97 10:00am)
and Tammy Reiss A roaring four-alarm fire at 33rd and Chestnut streets March 9 destroyed the 113-year-old Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church -- which the University had been renovating for use by the Fine Arts Department. The building was set to open as the Charles Addams Fine Arts Hall in August 1997, but Graduate School of Fine Arts Dean Gary Hack said that the severe damage to the building presents a major setback to efforts to expand the department's facilities. "Several years of hard work have been lost," he said. "This has dramatically curtailed our plan to give much-needed space to popular courses like photography." The building would have provided studio, classroom and gallery space to both undergraduate and graduate Fine Arts students. The Philadelphia Fire Marshal's Office has been investigating the blaze for more than a week, but the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, according to Capt. Henry Dolberry, a Fire Department spokesperson. "If we had some kind of little magic glass, we could tell you," he joked. Dolberry explained that the department set up a square block "buffer zone" as they battled the afternoon blaze due to fears that several propane tanks at the scene -- which firefighters later removed -- would explode. And although final damage estimates were unavailable at press time, preliminary figures suggest a toll exceeding $3.5 million, according to University spokesperson Ken Wildes. He added that the University's renovations of the church would have totaled $8.2 million if the project had been completed. "We're all very disappointed," Director of Facilities Management Art Gravina said. "We were so close to getting it done -- it would have been a real jewel." Approximately half of the renovations had been completed, including work on the building's exterior and flooring, according to Gravina. Officials said they hope to complete construction of a new Fine Arts facility on that site by the summer of 1998. "We're going to try to rethink this project so we can open it as quickly as we can," Gravina said, adding that he is unsure how to "meet the scope of the project." Workers were finalizing the addition of a third floor to the building at the time of the fire, Gravina said. He noted that because the fire caused structural damage to the back and side walls of the building, only its "front facade" might be saved. "We don't know if we can or can't do that," he added. The initial project included repairing the building's stone shell, replacing the roof and installing new electrical, mechanical and fire protection systems -- all of which were completely destroyed in the fire. In addition, plans included the addition of a new entrance and the installation of a third floor into the two-story building. Although members of the Office of Risk Management refused to comment on the fire, Wildes noted that the building was insured and "all insurance documents were in place." Hack added that damage to the Asbury Church -- which was built in 1884 -- causes a "tremendous loss architecturally" to the West Philadelphia community. "No matter how much we rebuild, we will never be able to replace the character of the church," Hack said. Dolberry said a fire company returning from another assignment first noticed smoke coming from the building and reported it to department headquarters. The fire's first alarm was received at approximately 1:50 p.m., but it escalated into a four-alarm blaze within 20 minutes. More than 120 firefighters -- working with more than 30 fire trucks and other vehicles -- brought the fire under control at approximately 2:40 p.m., Dolberry said. No firefighters were injured while battling the conflagration, and no one was in the building when the fire started. Witnesses to the blaze recalled a spectacular fire that blew out the church's windows, sending smoke and soot everywhere and clogging the streets with people and cars. "A lot of people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off," said Drexel University senior Susanne Chester, who works at the Tuscany Cafe at 34th and Sansom streets. First-year Architecture graduate student Marcus Acheson said the fire is "terribly unfortunate" for Fine Arts students. "It's disheartening to see all the work come crashing to the ground in the blaze," he said. "But I do appreciate the growing space and consideration undergrads were given." Renovations to the church were funded by a gift given to the University by Lady Colyton, Addams' former wife. Addams, who originally created the Addams Family in New Yorker magazine cartoons, graduated from the University in 1934. Daily Pennsylvanian reporter Liz Goldhirsh contributed to this article.
(03/07/97 10:00am)
A new Temple University initiative will gather officers from several of the city's specialized police forces. Classes will be soon be in session for officers from Philadelphia's numerous specialized police forces, as the Penn Police Department joins those of Temple University and the Philadelphia Housing Authority for a continuing series of training programs. As part of the efforts to streamline and improve police training in Philadelphia, Temple officials have created an institute offering various training programs to several campus and quasi-public police forces. John Clark, director of Temple's criminal justice training programs, explained that the Penn, Temple and Philadelphia Housing Authority police departments have already committed to the new Municipal Police Education and Training Commission, and "about a half a dozen other police agencies" have expressed interest in joining the program. The Philadelphia Police Department, however, will not be participating in the Commission's training programs. He added that the commission could eventually serve approximately 500 officers from between 10 and 20 police agencies in the five-county Philadelphia area and in southern New Jersey. Clark said the commission -- which will offer its first programs this month with a full slate to follow later this year -- is designed to provide training and courses in interrogation techniques, problem identification, decision-making and legal knowledge. He added that, to his knowledge, this is the first program of its kind. "I'm not following a model," said Clark, who also directs the state's continuing education program for sheriffs. "As far as I'm concerned, we're kind of putting it together on our own." He explained that pooling resources will benefit everyone involved in the institute, noting that "there hasn't been anything for agencies that serve specific populations like this." Penn's Managing Director of Public Safety Thomas Seamon said in a recent interview that he is looking forward to the new training commission, stressing that University Police officers have not had the level of training he would desire. "Officers have been working overtime [and] officers have been generating a lot of arrests," Seamon said. "Therefore, they go to court a lot, and it's difficult to schedule as much training as we want." In addition to the Temple-run training institute, Director of Police Operation Maureen Rush said recently that the Division of Public Safety has begun a specialized training program for 15 officers from all areas of University Police, including Special Services, supervisors and patrol officers. Clark said he believes training is "absolutely essential" to ensure that police forces adapt to continually changing police technology and the demands of society in general. "You're talking about an extremely difficult occupation that requires updating on a regular basis," said Clark, who has been involved with criminal justice programs for 25 years. "Most agencies are doing very, very significant amounts of training above and beyond what's been done in the past."
(03/06/97 10:00am)
A man unaffiliated with the University is in critical condition after being shot near the Thriftway supermarket last night, police said. Police described the victim, who was not carrying any identification, as a white male wearing a reddish-brown fleece pullover. He was transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was in critical condition as of late last night. According to WCAU-TV, police said the victim was reportedly shot several times in the chest by males driving a burgundy Nissan Stanza. Although the shooting occurred at approximately 9:30 p.m. at 44th and Sansom streets -- one block beyond University Police jurisdiction -- numerous University Police and Philadelphia Police officers were on the scene. Philadelphia Police officers took several witnesses to the department's Southwest Detectives Bureau at 55th and Pine streets for questioning. University Police Detective William Danks said he heard from Philadelphia Police that the shooting was drug related.
(03/03/97 10:00am)
Gunshots at 33rd and Walnut streets yesterday afternoon sent a large crowd of basketball spectators into a frenzy, but no injuries were reported. At approximately 4:15 p.m., police reported hearing gunshots fired from a gray Chevrolet Lumina containing four men. According to University Police Capt. John Richardson, who was at the scene, the gunfire sounded like it came from an "automatic weapon." He added that "people started fleeing everywhere" after hearing the shots. The gunshots occurred approximately 45 minutes after the Philadelphia Public League high school boys basketball championship game at the Palestra. No arrests have yet been made in the incident, which is under investigation by the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives bureau. Richardson said a Philadelphia Police officer "was chasing the people who she suspected of firing the shots" but was unable to catch them and eventually lost them. In the aftermath of the incident, police stopped suspicious individuals and recovered several weapons -- none of which were involved in the 33rd and Walnut shooting. The Palestra hosted the boys and girls high school basketball championship games yesterday for the first time in several years, Athletic Ticket Director Peggy Kowalski said, noting that the nearby Philadelphia Civic Center had hosted the event in recent years. Approximately 4,000 people attended the event. Although last year's boys basketball championship featured a near-riot due to a bad call, this year's game between Simon Gratz High School and Carver High School for Engineering and Science occurred without any problems, said Tony Vecchione, the University's associate athletic director for operations. He emphasized that the gunshots were heard outside the facility well after the game ended in a Grantz victory. Vecchione explained that more than 100 security and police personnel -- including 10 University Police officers, 40 Philadelphia school district police officers and 60 security guards -- were assigned to the event. In addition, security guards with metal detecting wands searched every individual that entered the Palestra, he said. "We had more than adequate security in the building," Vecchione said, adding that the University is interested in hosting the championship in the future -- although it "will make some suggestions" regarding security at the event. In an unrelated incident, a University Police officer was injured yesterday while attempting to arrest a man causing a disturbance in the Palestra yesterday afternoon at the basketball doubleheader, police said. After University Police Officer Howard Anderson tried to arrest the suspect at approximately 3 p.m., the two began fighting, and the suspect fell on top of Anderson's knee, Richardson explained. Anderson sustained a sprained and hyperextended left knee and was transported to the Presbyterian Medical Center at 39th and Market streets, where he was treated and released. The suspect was arrested and taken to the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives Bureau, where he was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assault against police.
(03/03/97 10:00am)
One person was hurt in the three-alarm blaze. One person was injured yesterday afternoon in a three-alarm fire in an apartment building at 43rd and Spruce streets, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Harold Hairston said. As of late last night, the city Fire Marshall's office was still investigating the incident and had not yet determined the cause of the blaze. Firefighters evacuated approximately 30 people from the three-story, 40-unit Spruce Hill apartment building at 4317 Spruce Street. Evacuees were housed in a temporary American Red Cross shelter in the Penn Children's Center at 42nd and Spruce streets, said Rocco Perry, who coordinated the Red Cross's efforts at the scene. Hairston said the fire began at approximately 1:53 p.m., with the second and third alarms following at 2:02 p.m. and 2:20 p.m., respectively. The blaze was under control by 3:20 p.m., he said, adding that nearly a dozen people had telephoned 911 alerting the department to the fire. A 69-year-old woman was transported to Misericordia Hospital at 53rd Street and Cedar Avenue for smoke inhalation, fire officials said. Hairston said yesterday afternoon that the fire apparently started in a utility closet on the building's second floor before spreading to third-floor apartments. "Some of these people are going to be displaced for a good while," he said. Building resident Jeff Jackson, who lives in a first-floor apartment, said he was "totally convinced" that the fire was an arson, explaining that there have been numerous disturbances and other incidents -- such as the building's front doors being kicked open -- at the location within the past two months. Jackson, a maintenance mechanic who has lived in the building for 12 years, said he lost all his possessions -- including wedding photographs, furniture, jewelry, a television, a VCR and cash -- in the fire. Perry said the Penn Children's Center was housing approximately 40 displaced residents yesterday afternoon, and a spokesman for the American Red Cross later told KYW-TV that a school at 47th and Spruce streets would soon replace the center as a shelter. "Right now, we're just making sure people are safe [and] comfortable," Perry said. The Fire Marshall's office is currently investigating the fire, which occurred just beyond the limits of University Police jurisdiction at 43rd Street. The Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives Bureau will investigate the incident if the fire is ruled to be an arson. This fire comes less than three months after a mid-December blaze that caused one death and five injuries at an apartment building on 44th and Pine streets. Hairston told news organizations at the time that the fatality occurred when a woman died after attempting to jump to safety from her window.
(02/27/97 10:00am)
Eugene "Sultan" Harrison also implicated the two other suspects in the case. Eugene "Sultan" Harrison told police in a statement that he is "sorry" about his role in the Halloween night stabbing death of University biochemist Vladimir Sled. In statements read at a preliminary hearing yesterday, Harrison also implicated the other two suspects in the case, telling police that the three drove around University City searching for someone to rob before settling on Sled and his fiancee Cecelia Hagerhall. "I just wanted a simple robbery -- we all just wanted to rob the people," he said. "I'm sorry the man got stabbed. I didn't think Bridget [Black, the suspect accused of stabbing Sled] would stab the guy. We just wanted to get their money and credit cards." Assistant District Attorney Dick Carroll said the statement is "dynamite" for the prosecution. "Harrison has put himself in it with both feet," Carroll said. "He's up to his kneecaps in alligators." Bridget Black, who allegedly stabbed Sled to death, and Yvette Stewart, who allegedly waited in the getaway vehicle, had pleaded not guilty to murder, robbery and related charges at a formal arraignment earlier this month. "Bridget stabbed the guy during the fight," Harrison said in his statement. Carroll said yesterday's hearing went smoothly, explaining that Hagerhall -- who was with Sled when he was murdered near 43rd Street and Larchwood Avenue -- delivered "almost a carbon copy" of the account she gave at Stewart's preliminary hearing in January. "I asked [Hagerhall] the exact same questions, and she answered the exact same thing," Carroll said. Harrison's court-appointed attorney, Tariq El-Shabazz, did not return telephone messages left at his office yesterday. In Harrison's statement -- given to Philadelphia Homicide Detective Jeff Piree November 20 -- the suspect described how he and the other two suspects planned to commit a robbery that evening. "We drove around for a while and I said, 'Let's drive to the University area'," Harrison said in the statement. "I was driving down that way and I saw a couple, a guy and a woman, walking up Larchwood Street from 43rd Street going toward 44th. "I circled the block, and I told Bridget and Yvette, 'We can rob that couple.' We all agreed," Harrison said, describing how he got out of the car at 44th Street and Larchwood Avenue with his "head down and pulled [his] baseball cap down low on [his] head." Harrison said he began fighting with Sled after stealing Hagerhall's pocketbook, noting that the couple "fell against a car that was parked there." Black assisted Harrison in robbing Sled and Hagerhall as they screamed for help. "Bridget came running up from the sidewalk and she is now also helping me -- she is fighting with me against the guy," Harrison said. "She is, like, punching the guy in front of the parked car." Harrison said he got in the driver's seat after Stewart pulled up the car, and they drove off after picking up Black, who had been searching for her jacket. Harrison explained how he unsuccessfully attempted to use Hagerhall's Money Access Center card "about a half-dozen times" that night. Video cameras at the machines caught Harrison on tape, and Harrison said he "knew it was over for [himself]" when he saw his own photograph in a newspaper. He also identified Stewart as having appeared in several of the MAC photographs. His formal arraignment is scheduled for March 20 at 9 a.m. in room 604 of the Criminal Justice Center at 13th and Filbert streets.
(02/27/97 10:00am)
Three Zeta Psi brothers allegedly started a fire on the front porch of the Tabard Society house. Three students were charged with arson after a "prank gone wrong" early Tuesday morning in front of the Tabard Society house at 41st and Pine streets, police said. The District Attorney's office charged Engineering junior Zayd Hammam, College sophomore Seth Schorr and Engineering sophomore Tim Young with arson -- a felony charge -- after they allegedly lit a fire on the house's porch, University Police Sgt. Thomas Rambo said. The three Zeta Psi brothers have been suspended by their fraternity pending the results of the investigation, chapter President Carter Caldwell said last night. "We are cooperating fully with the authorities," the College sophomore said. "We do not condone any of the activities allegedly involved." Rambo explained that University Police officers Mike Sylvester and Len Harrison observed a fire on the porch of the Tabard house at 319 South 41st Street at approximately 12:55 a.m. Tuesday. The officers witnessed two men at the scene fleeing north on 41st Street in a black Jeep Cherokee "at a high rate of speed." The men later returned to the house, where Sylvester and Harrison arrested the three suspects and transported them to the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives Bureau. According to Rambo, a resident of the house saw a note reading "Tabard will pay for your tricks -- you cannot play" pinned to the front door. In a report in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer, police said the three allegedly "placed a metal mailbox filled with pieces of an artificial fireplace log" on the porch before lighting the object on fire. "Pranks like this can't be played," Rambo said. "They could have cost someone their life." No injuries were reported, he added, and the house was not damaged in the incident. University officials would not say yesterday if any disciplinary action has been taken against the students, and refused to speculate if such action will be taken in the future. Office of Student Conduct Director Michele Goldfarb -- who said she had been aware of the incident -- would not confirm if her office is handling the case, but said the incident is "the kind of conduct that ordinarily is referred to our office." She added that she had not seen this type of incident in her 1 1/2 years at the University. In a prepared statement, University spokesperson Ken Wildes said the University "cannot and will not tolerate behavior of this kind." "Clearly, if the facts are as presented, the students who have been charged used extraordinarily poor judgment and put lives at risk," Wildes said in the statement. "The charges made against them by the Philadelphia Police Department are extremely serious." And InterFraternity Council President Matt Baker said the incident was not premeditated by the entire Zeta Psi fraternity, stressing that the individual students were responsible for their alleged actions. "Obviously the IFC doesn't approve of such incidents," the College and Engineering junior said. "But obviously there's no reason to take action against the house." Baker said that the Greeks will leave all punishment up to the authorities, adding that "the IFC as a whole doesn't really know about [what happened]." Tabard Society President Jennifer Chow, a Wharton senior, declined to comment on the incident. Daily Pennsylvanian reporter Randi Rothberg contributed to this article.
(02/26/97 10:00am)
When members of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 113 -- which represents University Police officers -- rejected a contract offered by the University Monday, they sent both sides back to the bargaining table for what will likely be another lengthy round of federally mediated negotiations. The officers have been working without a contract since August 1. Because of state laws preventing University Police officers -- who are classified as private employees -- from requesting binding arbitration, and national union bylaws prohibiting members from going on strike, the FOP and the University must reach an agreement through face-to-face negotiations. And since it was FOP members who voted down the contract -- a result of negotiations between the union's leadership and the University -- the FOP's executive board faces the difficult task of balancing its rank-and-file's demands with those of the University. The main point of contention between the two sides was a proposal to have officers rotate among each of the department's three eight-hour shifts, which many officers opposed because it would require regular changes in their work schedules. "It's my understanding that the FOP is going to meet with management to see if they can do something with the rotating shifts," FOP attorney Dianne Sheppard said yesterday. Public Safety officials were tight-lipped about the FOP's rejection of the contract, hinting that FOP officials -- including Sheppard and University Police Cpl. Hugh McBreen, the lodge's president -- violated a mediator-ordered press blackout against discussing specific terms of the negotiations. "We are going to continue and try to solidify a contract," Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush said. "The best way to do that is at the negotiation table, not through the newspapers." Public Safety Managing Director Thomas Seamon echoed Rush's words, saying the University "will comply with the mediator's wishes even if the union violates this policy." But Sheppard insisted that the FOP has abided by the mediator's orders. "There haven't been any violations of any media blackout," she said. And amid University charges that the FOP violated the press blackout, there are several key issues underlying the failure of the FOP and the University to agree to terms on a new contract. University Police officers -- unlike Philadelphia Police officers, for instance -- are classified as private employees and are not covered by a 1968 state law known as Act 111 which "provides rights for police and fire employees," according to Pat Crawford, secretary of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. Act 111 allows publicly employed police officers and firefighters to request binding arbitration if an impasse is reached in contract negotiations. "Police employees at the University of Pennsylvania would not be covered by Act 111 because their employer is not the commonwealth or one of its political subdivisions," Crawford said, adding that this type of issue has arisen in the past with Philadelphia Housing Authority police officers. Crawford said there has been "a great deal of resistance to making any changes" in the law, noting that the law has remained unchanged since its enactment. Additionally, national FOP bylaws prohibit members from going on strike, further weakening the officers' negotiating position. Leroy Anthony, an official with the statewide FOP, confirmed that the union's no-strike provision often causes police officers to lose leverage during bargaining talks. And National Labor Relations Board attorney Henry Protas explained that federal labor laws do not contain any provisions allowing police employees to request binding arbitration. Sheppard said that the FOP's executive board cannot force rank-and-file members to approve any contract. "[The executive board members] have no guarantee that their membership's going to ratify it," she said.
(02/25/97 10:00am)
U. Police officers have gone without a contract since August, but cited "big problems" with the new proposal. After months of federally mediated negotiations, members of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 113 -- which represents University Police officers -- has rejected a contract offered by the University. University Police officers have been working without a contract since August 1. FOP President Hugh McBreen said the union voted down the contract because it contained several "big problems." He cited a Public Safety proposal to have officers rotate among each of the department's three eight-hour shifts, which many officers opposed because it would require regular changes in their work schedules. In addition, McBreen said the terms of the contract did not apply retroactively to cover the nearly seven months officers have been working without a contract. Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush was reluctant to comment on the FOP's rejection of the proposed contract, saying "we still don't have all the details" as of early yesterday evening. Managing Director of Public Safety Thomas Seamon and University spokesperson Ken Wildes did not return telephone calls to their offices yesterday. The two have declined to comment on the matter for the past several months. Rush said the FOP and the University put the final touches on the contract in their most recent negotiating session, which occurred last Wednesday. "We came to a package that the FOP leadership then took back and presented to the bargaining unit," Rush said. The FOP's vote comes a few weeks before Public Safety expects to hire approximately 24 new University Police officers. A high-ranking University Police source said that the contract rejection "really won't affect the new officers as of right now." But the source noted that the rejected deal did contain provisions that would have applied differently to the newly hired officers and current University Police officers. "With the current contract, there is some flexibility in how we can assign [the new officers]," the source said. According to FOP attorney Dianne Sheppard, University Police officers have been working in a "really rotten employment situation." "I honestly don't know why we're having such a problem [negotiating with the University]," Sheppard said in a recent interview, adding that the FOP's demands have been "too reasonable." She explained that the University had not been meeting FOP demands such as a pension increase and a "small," 3 percent pay raise. "Quite frankly, I think the University would want to replace [University Police officers] with security guards," Sheppard said recently. The FOP's "no" vote on the University's contract means the negotiations -- which have been conducted by a National Labor Relations Board mediator -- are likely to continue for several more weeks, officials said. Sheppard noted that because of a technicality that classifies University Police officers as private employees, they are unable to request binding arbitration. Furthermore, national FOP bylaws prohibit members from striking, making University Police officers the only Penn employees who cannot strike, she said. "They can bargain and bargain and bargain, and the management can say, 'No, no, no'," Sheppard said, adding that University Police officers "do the exact same job as all other police officers." Daily Pennsylvanian reporter Erin Malec contributed to this article.
(02/24/97 10:00am)
Officials had long planned to add new officers, but they expedited the increase after last semester's crime wave. Nearing the completion of an intensive, months-long search process, the Division of Public Safety is close to hiring approximately 24 new University Police officers, according to Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush. Rush said the new officers -- who will bring the total number of University Police officers to approximately 100 -- will begin patrols by mid-to-late March while participating in a seven-week training process. She added that Public Safety officials had planned the personnel increase as early as the summer of 1995 -- when the University hired Thomas Seamon to replace former University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich -- but sped up the hiring process after last semester's crime wave. Rush explained that although the University planned to hire new officers "certainly before" last September's crime wave, the rash of robberies caused officials to move up the mass hiring. "That process was obviously expedited during the reign of terror of our criminal element," she said. The increase in University Police officers comes amid news of a recent drop in major crimes compared with the same three-month period last year. Rush explained that the new officers should help the department maintain a higher level of visibility while relieving the burden of overtime hours being worked by current officers -- which she said was an important factor in the recent crime decrease. "The fact that we have hired additional officers should eliminate the need for as much overtime as we have been doing," Rush said. And although officers from the Philadelphia Police Department's 18th District currently patrol the area alongside University Police personnel, officials said the new officers will not reduce the number of city police officers inside University Police jurisdiction. The force currently patrols an area extending from 30th to 43th streets, and from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue. "Whatever manpower we have in that area right now will of course remain the same," said Cpl. Jim Pauley, a PPD spokesperson. He added that hiring new officers should benefit everyone in the University community. "The higher visibility of more uniformed officers will certainly be beneficial to the students and teachers and citizens in the University of Pennsylvania area," Pauley said. The exact number of University Police officers, however, has recently come into question. Several University Police sources have said the department currently employs approximately 80 uniformed officers, but a Fraternal Order of Police report from last November put that number at only 54 -- two-thirds of the officials' estimate. Additionally, University Police officers have been working without a contract since August 1, and ongoing negotiations have failed to produce an agreement. Rush explained that the new officers -- some fresh out of the police academy -- will undergo seven weeks of training and will be on probation for a year. Officers will work each of the department's three eight-hour shifts for two weeks apiece and will also take one week of classes focusing on academic and administrative matters as well as various aspects of the University. Rush had noted earlier this month that "tons of very, very professional applicants" applied for the new positions. Prospective hires had to pass a written test and undergo an interview, background check, physical examination and psychological evaluation.
(02/21/97 10:00am)
Two of the suspects in the Halloween night stabbing death of University biochemist Vladimir Sled allegedly robbed a Philadelphia Daily News driver earlier in the day, according to Assistant District Attorney Matthew Perks. Yvette Stewart -- the alleged getaway driver in the Sled murder -- and Eugene "Sultan" Harrison allegedly mugged the driver at 52nd Street and Girard Avenue at approximately 9:40 a.m., Perks said. And sources close to the investigation said a few days before the murder, Harrison and Stewart allegedly assaulted a man approximately two blocks from the spot where Sled was killed near 43rd Street and Larchwood Avenue. Assistant District Attorney Dick Carroll, who is prosecuting the Sled case, said these incidents could strengthen the case against Harrison and Stewart. The third suspect, Bridget Black -- who allegedly stabbed Sled five times -- waived her preliminary hearing and pleaded not guilty at a recent formal arraignment. Additionally, Perks and Carroll said Stewart attempted to alter her appearance between her January 7 arrest and a recent police lineup in the Daily News robbery case. "She had sort of bleached-blond hair in a sort of thatched-roof configuration" the morning of the robbery, Carroll said. "At the lineup, her hair was completely black -- it was in a completely different style." Carroll and Perks said they could not confirm or deny whether the Daily News driver positively identified Stewart, but Carroll said Stewart's sister was present at the lineup and bore a strong resemblance to Yvette Stewart's appearance at the time of the robbery -- implying that the two may have attempted to swap identities. "[Stewart's] sister was there with her hair dyed blond and arranged exactly the way [Yvette Stewart] had hers on the day of the robbery," Carroll said. Philadelphia Police arrested Harrison December 12 for the Daily News robbery, Perks said. He was reluctant to give details of the strong-arm robbery because no preliminary hearings have been held. The hearing -- at which the District Attorney's office will attempt to show that Harrison and Stewart probably committed the crime -- is scheduled for March 13. Carroll said the two additional cases increase the chances of obtaining convictions for all three suspects in Sled's murder. "Things are starting to add up, if you know what I mean," Carroll said. "They're dead." Carroll explained that he did not have details on the assault, but a source close to the case confirmed that a man and woman assaulted another man October 27 near 45th Street and Larchwood Avenue. Carroll said the suspects have not yet been identified, but that their car was identified as belonging to Harrison and Stewart. Harrison's court-appointed attorney withdrew his request for a police lineup at a status hearing Tuesday, Carroll added. Tariq El-Shabazz requested and was granted a lineup for Harrison after Sled's fiancee, Cecelia Hagerhall, misidentified El-Shabazz as the perpetrator in a January preliminary hearing. But El-Shabazz failed to show up for the lineup scheduled for last Wednesday, forcing its cancellation. A judge rescheduled Harrison's preliminary hearing for next Wednesday at 9 a.m. in room 903 of the Criminal Justice Center at 13th and Filbert streets. El-Shabazz and Lee Mandell, Stewart's court-appointed attorney, did not return telephone calls to their respective offices yesterday. Stewart pleaded not guilty to Sled's murder earlier this month at a formal arraignment.
(02/20/97 10:00am)
Public Safety officials attributed the 50 percent decrease from last year to more security and four new detectives. Major crimes such as robbery and burglary near campus decreased sharply over a recent three-month stretch when compared to the same period last year, University Police records show. Between November 1996 and January 1997, 24 robberies and five attempts were reported to University Police, a 50 percent drop from the same period ending January 1996, which saw 48 robberies and nine attempts. Division of Public Safety officials attributed the decrease to several factors -- including a beefed-up off-campus security presence and the addition of four University Police detectives -- but cautioned against interpreting these statistics as showing an overall drop in crime. "You don't like to take complete credit or complete blame for crime," Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush said, emphasizing that "many, many factors" account for statistics. Robbery statistics have fluctuated significantly throughout the past three years. The 50 percent drop in robberies is not as steep as the decrease two years ago. From November 1993 to January 1994, 54 robberies and five attempted robberies were reported to University Police. But only 23 robberies and four attempts were reported from November 1994 through January 1995. And while stressing the effects of increases in police and security patrols since last fall's crime wave, Rush said crime is often the result of "one-man crime sprees." For example, police arrested a suspect in late January for five robberies in one night -- and individual factors cannot be measured in broad statistics. "A guy with no record turns ugly overnight because he gets involved in crack," Rush said. In addition to the drop in robberies, burglaries declined 36 percent from last year, with 33 incidents last year compared to 21 this year. The number of auto thefts showed little change, with 32 reported to University Police from November 1996 to January 1997 and 33 reported during the same period last year. Thefts fell 13 percent, from 407 in the November through January period last year to 354 this year. Rush cited the creation of the University Police Special Response Team, new Spectaguard security patrols west of 40th Street, doubling the size of the University Police investigative unit, extra overtime among police officers and heightened awareness of crime as possible reasons for the decrease in incidents. Spectaguard personnel began patrolling west of 40th Street in early October, days after Christopher Crawford shot College senior Patrick Leroy as he fled a robbery attempt near 40th and Locust streets. And Security Director Chris Algard explained that his department has implemented an electronic system measuring how frequently security guards cover their patrol areas. He intends to compare the frequency of incidents in specific areas to the number of times security guards walk their beats. "The visibility [of security guards] is going to be noticed more by our community members and that's what's going to make them feel safe," Algard said. Several University Police and Philadelphia Police officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had noticed a considerable drop in crime on and around campus since the University implemented several new safety initiatives. But when told about the drop in crime, one student who lives off campus replied that she still remembers the rash of robberies that led up to Leroy's September shooting. "I'm thinking of everything that happened last semester," Wharton senior Michelle Bornstein said.
