Ramsey: Special police districts for casinos?

Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said yesterday that the city was exploring the creation of special police districts around two proposed waterfront casinos to prevent the gaming industry from draining police resources from the rest of the city.

The commissioner, in his inaugural appearance before City Council, said the department was considering assigning officers to patrol in "entertainment zones" around casinos.

"If we do get casinos, it is going to have an impact on our resources, clearly," Ramsey said after a hearing in which he presented his department's $524 million budget.

Councilman Frank Rizzo suggested that a fund "supported by the industry" pay for the gaming units, much as aviation activities fund the Philadelphia International Airport police unit. Such a funding mechanism would require cooperation from state officials, he said.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board last year selected two casino sites along the Delaware River, but local approval for construction and licenses has generated stiff resistance.

"We need to be thinking about it now so it's not a last-minute thing," Ramsey said after his budget presentation.

Council treated the new commissioner gently during the hearing, where Ramsey spelled out plans to put 200 more officers on patrol by May 1, and 400 more by summer 2009.

Ramsey, who shut down a special tactical unit last month and reassigned most of its 54 officers to patrol duty, said he was reviewing other units for more personnel to beef up operations.

"I'm still looking internally to see where we can reassign people and put them out in the field," he said. "My sense is still that we're over-specialized."

One potential source of patrol officers might be Ramsey's own staff: His budget calls for reducing the commissioner's office personnel from 116 to 62, mostly officers and sergeants.

Ramsey noted that this year, homicides were down 25 percent, violent crimes were down 9 percent, the number of people shot was down 23 percent, and the homicide clearance rate was 89 percent, far above last year's rate. "Although very early in the year, these statistics are promising," he said.

Councilman Darrell Clarke asked whether this year's decreases were a continuation of the trend that began last year, or whether Ramsey's new crime strategy was responsible.

"I'm willing to take part of the credit for it since I'd be getting part of the blame for it if it were going in the other direction," Ramsey said.