A Better Than Average Week

Even a dedicated curmudgeon like me has to admit things are looking up this week in the ol’ City of Brotherly Love.

We’re all giddy with excitement at the impending return of pitching ace Cliff Lee, whose addition to the Phillies’ staff is nothing short of monumental. The expected starting rotation of Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels constitutes the most feared and dangerous lineup of hurlers since the Atlanta Braves of the 1990’s, when they featured Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, and Millwood.

Some local sports outlets have already dubbed the Phillies’ lineup with the Star Wars-inspired moniker R2C2 – which, knowing this town, is just lame and corny enough to stick. I suddenly long for the good old days of the 1970’s Oakland A’s, whose pitchers – Blue Moon Odom, Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, and Rollie Fingers - came with their own built-in nicknames.

But baseball season is still months away, and I suspect some of the giddiness will fade when we get a good look at the Phillies’ 2011 merchandise and ticket prices. Somebody’s got to pay for all that talent, folks.

As I’m writing this column, they’re cutting the grand opening ceremonial ribbon over at the President’s House exhibit on Independence Mall. As you well know by now, it’s been a long and arduous process, with heated passion on both sides of the debate of the historical significance of George Washington’s slaves.

Thanks to local attorney Michael Coard and the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, former mayor John Street, and a host of concerned citizens, historians, and archeologists; the fascinating stories of these early slaves is finally being told in full context.

But what really grabbed my attention this week was City Council’s all day hearing on police misconduct. Fifteen Philadelphia police officers have been arrested – not just fired, but arrested - in the past two years, and the number of civilian complaints is at an all-time high.

Unlike the endlessly painful tedium that hallmarks most council hearings, this one provided an opportunity for both catharsis and education.

It was cathartic for the victims of police violence and abuse, who courageously came out to testify about their own cases, and on behalf of their loved ones. After months, sometimes years, of isolation and official silence while their cases grind slowly through the justice system, they finally had the opportunity to have their voices heard.

Even better was that they got to do it in front of Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and his top brass as well as city council. And it was Ramsey, in his testimony, who provided the education.

Ramsey testified he would begin to implement thorough background checks on recruits, including polygraph tests, and interviews with family members, friends and neighbors. He said he also asked the Civil Service Commission to raise the recruitment age from 19 to 21 and to require that recruits have at least three years of driving experience and an associate degree or 60 college credits, with a minimum C average.

I had no idea they weren’t doing this already – at least the background check and polygraph part. So I took a look at the police department’s website, www.phillypolice.com, and sure enough, they detail the entire scope of the Recruit Background Investigations Unit.

They talk to a lot of people about your past history alright – but apparently not the people who would allow them to effectively sift out the assorted thieves, bullies, cutthroats and sociopaths giving the department a bad name lately. Any effort by top brass to raise the bar for incoming recruits to the exclusion of these goons is welcome, and long overdue.

Also found on the department’s website, and mentioned by Ramsey at the hearing, are the improved methods of filing a complaint against officers suspected of misconduct. Anonymous complaint forms will be available at city agencies like public libraries and recreation centers. There are actually two online forms on the website, one for citizen’s complaints, and one for officers’ complaints against colleagues. (I was about to make a snarky comment about which one gets the most mouse clicks, but that one is just too easy, and even I have standards.)

I admit, though, to being encouraged by the message above the police officers’ complaint form titled: “Integrity Starts With You”. It says, in part, “The first step is simple, but the hardest. Stop protecting and tolerating other members’ inappropriate behavior. There is no justification for their wrongful actions. It’s up to all of us to bring back a sense of professionalism and pride to the Philadelphia Police Department.”

At least they finally figured that out, which is the first step in the right direction.