This is a topic we've visited before -- and will no doubt visit again in the future.

Just a day after Sgt. Timmy Simpson was laid to rest, FOP and police officials found out that a suspect who took aim at another police officer is already back on the streets:

Amado Lopez aimed a .40-caliber gun at Officer Sean McGinnis in West Kensington Saturday night and ended up taking a bullet to the arm for his brazen act, police said.
Today he walked out of jail.
Members of the police community — still reeling from the death of Sgt. Timmy Simpson on Nov. 17 — were outraged when they learned that Lopez, 20, needed to pony up only $800 to get back on the streets.
Union officials directed their ire at bail commissioner Abraham Polokoff, who set Lopez’s bail at $8,000.

It’s mind-boggling,” said FOP vice president John McGrody. “Here’s an individual who tried to use a firearm against a Philadelphia police officer, and someone in our judicial system gave him a get-out-of-jail-free card.”
Chris Werner, the commander of the 25th District, where McGinnis works, sounded off as well.
“It’s disgraceful,” Werner said of Lopez’s perceived low bail.
“Is he [Polokoff] protecting the city of Philadelphia with decisions like this?”
Polokoff could not be reached for comment.

Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said McGinnis responded to a radio call at about 8:40 p.m. Saturday for a man with a gun near 5th and Somerset streets.
When McGinnis arrived at the scene, he chased after Lopez, who fit the description of the man with the gun.
During the chase, Lopez turned and pointed the gun at McGinnis, Vanore said. McGinnis fired once, striking Lopez in the right arm. Lopez was treated at Temple University Hospital and later released into police custody.
Lopez was arrested in June 2007 on charges that included attempted murder and aggravated assault, according to court records. Those charges were withdrawn in February. Records show Lopez, of Lawrence Street near Somerset, has been arrested in the past on drug charges as well.

“He’s not someone we want out on the streets,” Vanore said. “He poses a harm to police and civilians.”
The outcry over the bail Lopez received comes at a particularly difficult time for the Police Department.
Six officers have died in the line of duty since 2006. When Sgt. Patrick McDonald was shot to death in North Philadelphia on Sept. 23 by convicted felon Daniel Giddings, FOP leaders vowed to turn up the heat on members of the judicial system they deemed too lax on violent criminals.
A month ago, Gov. Rendell signed into law a bill that mandates a minimum 20-year sentence for anyone who shoots at a law enforcement officer.
“We do know that four times in the last year, police officers have lost their lives because of people who should not have been out on the street,” McGrody said.
“In light of that, on the same week we buried another police officer, we’re shocked to see a judicial authority making it so easy for someone like this to get out again.”
Lopez will have preliminary hearing Dec. 1 at the 25th District’s headquarters on Whitaker Avenue near Erie. He’ll face charges of aggravated assault, carry firearms in public, recklessly endangering another person and related offenses from Saturday’s incident.

View gallery

Funeral services were held today for Sgt. Timmy Simpson, who was killed last Monday when his cruiser was struck by another car driven by career criminal William Foster. Simpson was the fourth police officer to die in the line of duty this year and the sixth since 2006.

Above are a handful of photos from the viewing and funeral taken by freelance photo journalist Joseph Kaczmarek.

Every day, police phone call operators are bombarded with tons of phone calls with emergencies. They even at times have to field calls and inquiries from reporters. Some accomplish the task with a grace that oozes over the phone line. For their efforts, the Police Communications Division, in conjunction with the Police Radio Advisory Board, honor those who've demonstrated exceptional work throughout the year during their annual Dispatcher of the Year Award. Tonight, five dispatchers will receive an award at Police Headquarters Auditorium at 7p.m. They include:

Kirk Edwards, 1 Platoon PCD

Jakira Jones, 1 Platoon PCD

Dorian Parsley, 2 Platoon PCD

Wendy Payne, 3 Platoon PCD

Karen Bojanowski, 5 Platoon PCD

Another Philadelphia Police Officer is dead.

About 10:30p.m. last night, Sgt. Timothy Simpson, of the 24th District, was responding to a call of an armed robbery on Aramingo Avenue near Clearfield Street when he was struck by a vehicle, police said. Around Allegheny Avenue, police said the driver, who rode in a black Camaro, collided into Simpson's cruiser. Simpson was transported to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:05p.m. Police have in custody two men, one in his 30s, the other in his 40s. Both men may be from out of town, said spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.

Family members and police officers crowded around the entrance to the hospital where they consoled each other, devastated by another death in a police department still coping with the loss of the recently slain Officer Patrick McDonald, who was gunned down in North Philly last month, and Officer Isable Nazario who also died as a result of a car crash. Mayor Nutter, along with Commissioner Charles Ramsey, said they're shaken by the death.

"This department has had a significant amount of tragedy this year, last year and the year before," said Nutter. "We are deeply hurt, deeply saddened. Officers are feeling significant amount of pain as the rest of us in public service."

Commissioner Ramsey chimed in and offered a few words of consolation to Simpson's wife and three children.

"This is surreal this many [officers] to die in such a short period of time," said Ramsey. "It's ironic that just early today we were unveiling a mural of three officers of the 35th District that died, now we have another that's fallen. A sargeant from the same district as Steve Liczibinski. It's tragic so our hearts are out to the family and to the men and women of the 24th District.

Heartache has once again visited the family of Officer Isabel Nazario, who was killed in a car crash Sept. 5.

Police said Nazario's sister, Officer Maritza Mohamad, received another round of grim news Sunday when she learned her father-in-law had been murdered in Juniata Park.

Jamal Mohamad Ahmad, 66, was found shot in the back at about 10:30 p.m. behind his house on O Street near Bristol, police said. He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital shortly before 11 p.m. Homicide detectives had no motives in the case.

"It's tragic that their family has to go through another loss," said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore. "Our thoughts are with them."

Mohamad is a 15-year veteran of the police force, most recently detailed to the 39th District, 22nd Street and Hunting Park Avenue. She could not be reached for comment.

Nazario, an 18-year veteran, was riding in the passenger seat of a police cruiser that T-boned by a stolen Cadillac Escalade in Mantua on Sept. 5. She died from her injuries. The Cadillac was driver by 16-year-old Andre Butler, who has since been charged with Nazario's murder.

"Ruh-roh" might be the operative phrase in Jeffrey Prout's life right now.

The FBI issued an arrest warrant for Prout yesterday in connection with the robbery of a Dunbar armored-car guard in South Philadelphia Friday morning. Prout, 20, of North Philadelphia, forced the guard to the ground at gunpoint inside a check cashing shop at Oregon Avenue and Randolph Street, the FBI said.

Prout made off with the delivery the guard was about to make -- all $700,000 of it. Prout's cohort, Harry Jackson, 24, was arrested over the weekend. Dunbar has issued a $40,000 reward for info that leads to Prout's arrest and the recovery of the missing money, and the FBI has started to circulate his mugshot across the city.

Tick-tock, Jeffrey, tick-tock.

Doesn't sound like anybody's made sense of this yet:

Latifa Greer, 30, who was reportedly abducted by her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend in Sharswood on Saturday, is alive and well. Police said Greer "reappeared" this morning, but offered no statement or clarification of the supposed abduction.

I'd tell you more if there was more to tell ... but at this point, there isn't. Check back, I suppose, for updates.

Latifa Greer, the kidnapping victim

More images

Police, the public and family members are hoping for the safe return of 30-year-old Latifa Greer who was abducted by her estranged husband and his girlfriend from the home of Greer's friend in Sharswood on Saturday.

Read about the abduction here. If you have any information on any of their whereabouts, contact Central Detectives at 215-686-3093.

Heads up, Temple students!

Beware the Knock-Knock Bandits.
Police officials announced yesterday that two men are responsible for a recent spate of home invasion robberies involving unsuspecting Temple University students.
The armed crooks have targeted students who live in off-campus housing between 18th and 20th streets and Montgomery Avenue and Norris Street, said Capt. Sharon Seaborough, commander of Central Detectives.
From Oct. 15 to Nov. 6, the criminals struck five times. In each case, they knocked on the front door of a property and forced their way in when a student opened the door.
Once inside, the handgun-toting men herded the students together in one room and then went to work, stuffing laptops, cell phones, iPods, ATM cards and cash into trash bags, Seaborough said.
“What we don’t like is that they’re using guns and targeting students,” Seaborough said. “It seems like they’re striking between noon and 2 p.m., when they know the students will be home.”
In all, 16 students have been robbed, but none has been injured.
Seaborough said the victims have described the assailants as stocky black men in their 20s, both of whom are about 5 feet 9 and 200 pounds.
One of the robbers has a wiry beard, while the other is clean shaven with a mole on the left side of his face.
“They wear hooded sweatshirts, but no masks,” Seaborough said. “They used bandanas once, but even then, they pulled the bandanas down when they talked to the students.”