Street, Katz diverge on funding for public safety issues

Despite a recent jump in crime statistics, many signs indicate that Philadelphia has become a dramatically safer city over the past four years.

While Democratic Mayor John Street plans to focus his crime prevention efforts on continuing his Operation Safe Streets program if re-elected, Republican challenger Sam Katz would spend less money and structure the system slightly differently.

Spokesman Mark Nevins said that Street does not plan to change his policy much, because "it's worked pretty well so far."

Overall crime is down 20 percent since Street took office and 13 percent since Operation Safe Streets began last year, according to Nevins.

However, Katz has criticized Safe Streets for not being adaptable, and for being too expensive. In the final mayoral debate last week, Katz expressed concern that more than half of the $100 million earmarked for the program had already been used.

Katz's own plan includes increasing emphasis on drug treatment, establishing specialized gun courts and providing new 911 cell phones for cab drivers.

He would also create a new administrative position to deal with crime, a deputy mayor for public safety "whose full-time job it will be to ensure that all public safety agencies work more effectively together," according to an Aug. 21 statement.

Criminology Department Chairman Lawrence Sherman is "very supportive" of this idea.

"Katz is proposing that there be someone who works with all different branches and tries to operate the whole thing as a system," Sherman said.

He added that this would cut down on inter-branch difficulties, like backlog in the courts because the police are arresting too many people for minor transgressions.

"Right now we have a system that isn't well coordinated," Katz spokesman Nate Raab said.

Tuesday's election will be a rematch of the 1999 contest, which Street won by less than 1 percent of the vote.

Ken Smuckler, president of VoterLink Data, a Philadelphia political analysis company, said that Operation Safe Streets gives off the impression that crime is under control.

"My sense is that his message of being a neighborhood candidate will lead his base to believe that he has done a good job on crime," he said.

He added that "the electorate believes that this city has not gone backwards," and is about as safe as it was under former mayor Ed Rendell.

However, much of Street's success has been attributed to his choice of Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson.

Street has always said that if re-elected, he would keep Johnson in that role, and Republican challenger Sam Katz announced that, if elected, he would also extend Johnson an offer.

"Sam has promised to keep Johnson as commissioner, should he choose to accept," Raab said.

Most analysts agree that, in general, a mayor does not have all that much effect on the functioning of the Police Department.

But, as Philadelphia Police Department Sergeant Roland Lee said, the relationship between the mayor and the police commissioner can be vital.

"As long as [the mayor and police commissioner] can agree on things, everything will work out for the best," he said.

Smuckler said that Johnson and Street have a very good relationship.

Johnson has "got the demeanor that I think is better suited for a police commissioner under Street," he said. "He is very calm, professional and goes to work and grinds it out."

However, Smuckler noted that Street and Katz don't have very divergent opinions on crime.

"The major difference is that Street is willing to invest more money... than Sam Katz is," he said.

"It's hard for a mayor or commissioner in this city. They can't do very much," because of the way the city's charter is set up, according to Sherman. "What we probably need is a charter change, to give the mayor a lot more control" in a more business-type model.

But, barring that, analysts say that the mayor can't affect very much change.

"I think that Johnson is a strong commissioner," Smuckler said. "But that doesn't have very much to do with Street."

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