One would think that sworn officers of the Philadelphia Police Department, regardless of where they went in the morning to report for work, operated through the Department's highly structured and ostensible chain of command. I discovered this morning that this may not be the case. Or, at least, that the people at UCD and the police officer who has a desk at the UCD administrative building, don't necessarily think so. I attended a meeting at which Lieutenant John McCurdy made a short presentation, then handed out business cards so people would know how to contact him. Only, they weren't Philadelphia Police Department business cards. In fact, they weren't City of Philadelphia business cards in any form. They were (you guessed it) standard UCD business cards with "lt. john mccurdy/city of philadelphia police department" (all in lower case, as shown) where the name and position of a UCD employee would normally go. This is a serious, if symbolic problem. Especially given that many people in this area think UCD has already usurped too many powers that it should not have, given it's accountability only to its primary patrons. And use of this business card by a sworn City of Philadelphia police officer with extraordinary powers obfuscates the fact that the chain of command and responsibility goes right up through the ranks at 55th & Pine through the Police Commissioner, City Council, and the Mayor -- without a nod to anybodyat UCD. It is totally unacceptable. Lt McCurdy is probably guilty of nothing more than extremely poor judgement. Wendell Lewis and the others who make the decisions at UCD are more likely guilty of at least trying to obfuscate their actual role in the neighborhood, and perhaps of making yet another subtle power grab.
Always at your service & ready for a dialog, Al Krigman -- 36-year local resident and housing provider ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
