September 21, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Hillers call police coverage inadequate
by JENNIFER KATZ

Most Philadelphians view Chestnut Hill as a haven where, street after street, the houses are well maintained, the shopping district is quaint — attracting a mostly upscale clientele — and the residents are out and about, walking their dogs, playing with their children and engaging in friendly banter with their neighbors.

At a Sept. 13 meeting, however, a handful of community members said they are scared that a crime wave is threatening the very serenity their community is known for.

“We are being targeted,” said Ron Recko, president of the Chestnut Hill Community Association. “I have lived on the same street for 40 years and the [current] rise in crime has been extreme.”

Recent reports of burglaries, attempted burglaries and a hold up on Chestnut Hill Avenue in broad daylight last spring, have all made residents uncomfortable.

“It’s unacceptable,” Recko said. “We need more crime prevention.”

Officer Synell Hall, crime prevention officer for the 14th police district, spoke at the meeting on personal safety tips. When pressed about the police presence in Chestnut Hill, Hall admitted that she would like to see more officers in the district.

“We are strapped in terms of personnel,” Hall said.

Yet others in attendance, expressed concerns that Capt. Winton Singletary, who heads the 14th district, is not responsive enough to the situation on the Hill.

“I disagree with continually defending the police captain,” Recko said. “I’m disappointed that Singletary isn’t here. It’s totally unacceptable.”

Hall said the police district was not notified until the day of the meeting and that the captain could not make it.

Many of the neighbors speculated that Chestnut Hill was being singled out and disproportionately targeted by criminals. Dick Martin, Town Watch coordinator, said it’s the same old story with the haves and have-nots.

“Chestnut Hill is the most beautiful place in the city,” Martin said. “Willie Sutton didn’t rob little kids on the corner, he went to the banks.”

Responding to these issues in a Sept. 14 interview, Capt. Singletary agreed that wealthy areas struggle with break-ins because they have valuables.

“They are having the same problems in the suburbs,” he said. “Cheltenham, Springfield, Whitemarsh — all of those areas have a rise in burglaries.”

Singletary said that despite reports of crime in Chestnut Hill, the area still has the lowest crime rate in the 14th district. He added that, according to the numbers, crime in the 14th district overall is down from last year.

“In the four years I’ve been here, it is not worse now,” he said.

Still, according to the dozen or so residents at the meeting, neighbors don’t feel safe and want better protection. One idea that many residents embrace is for the police to open a substation in Chestnut Hill. There was a mini-station next to the firehouse until the 1920s.

Jim Jordan, a Chestnut Hill resident and security manager for SEPTA, warned the group against such a move.

“I know from when John Timoney [a former police commissioner] was here, he was against substations,” Jordan explained. “His thinking was that if you have officers in a substation they are not on the street.”

While that might be true, Laughlin Lane resident Lisa Mancuso Sullivan said there are other potential benefits to consider.

“A substation would mean faster response times and a heightened presence,” Sullivan said. She noted that there have been several attempts to break into her house.

Singletary said the first problem with a substation is personnel.

“Someone would have to man it,” he said.

If that issue could be addressed, Singletary said, the political fallout would soon follow.

“Lower Germantown wants a substation,” Singletary explained. “They want bike cops. All I hear down there is ‘Why should Chestnut Hill get everything when their crime rate is lower than everybody else’s?’”

According to Singletary, in Lower Germantown gunpoint robberies occur on a weekly basis.

The pair of bicycle cops who patrol the avenue also took a fair share of criticism from the group. Recko questioned why the duo had to stay together, thus decreasing their effectiveness.

“They are joined at the hip,” Recko said. “Why can’t one be at the top of the hill and one at the bottom?”

Sgt. Rich Parashak of the 14th district, who was also at the meeting, said it was departmental policy for officers always to work in pairs.

“They can’t be alone,” he explained. “What if something happens? Then the guy would have no back up.”

Parashak conceded that the bike officers do work alone when one is on vacation, but that is an allowance that is made, not the rule to be followed.

Still, residents were adamant that something must be done to calm the current climate of criminal activity.

“Our tax base here dictates a larger [police] presence,” Recko said.

Laughlin Lane resident Dean Fournaris couldn’t agree more.

“Soon, our taxes are going to go up,” said Fournaris, referring to the city’s property tax reassessment program. “And if you are going to charge us as if we live in Gladwyne, we are going to expect police protection as if we live in Gladwyne. If we don’t get it, we will move to Gladwyne.”

Bob Previdi, executive director of the Chestnut Hill Business Association, suggested that the community ask to see Chestnut Hill’s monthly crime statistics.

“We need an action plan,” he said. “We need to get the facts to see what is really going on.”

Previdi furthered recommended that community members attend City Council’s budget hearings, to be held in March and April of 2007, to voice their concerns.

Meredith Sonderskov, president of the Chestnut Hill Senior Center and the CHCA board member who organized the meeting, said a campaign is needed to “get bodies in front of city council and the Mayor.”

Recko also announced the formation of a new CHCA committee on public safety that Sonderskov will chair. The committee will act as a liaison between local law enforcement, the CHCA and the community.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Katz at 215-248-8804 or jenn@chestnuthilllocal.com.