Police Department shakeup coming next week

Numerous top Philadelphia police officials will find themselves in news posts come Monday, as a planned internal reorganization goes into effect.
Although many of the moves involve routine promotions and reassignments, one investigative team will be disbanded and another unit will be created to help cops better prepare for court, Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said last night.
"We're doing some shuffling and shifting some folks around," Ramsey said.
The I.M.P.A.C.T. Squad, a little-known unit in the department's Internal Affairs Bureau, is being abolished. Officers in that squad worked on specialized investigations, some of which centered on determining if cops were abiding by the city's old residency requirement.
"With residency no longer an issue, we felt that was no longer an effective use of those officers," Ramsey said.
The I.M.P.A.C.T. cops will be transferred to the department's Criminal Intelligence Unit, he said.
Narcotics Field Unit and Strike Force officers will be divided into North and South units, a move that Ramsey said will "strengthen the supervision" of the officers. The North and South units will be run by Capts. Debra Frazier and Jim Kelly, respectively, Ramsey said.
The Public Affairs Unit will be absorbed by a new Office of Strategic Communications, which is run by a civilian, Karima Sedan, who oversaw the department's recently unveiled new Web site, www.phillypolice.com.
Ramsey said a new unit, run by Lt. Jacqueline Bailey, will help cops improve their court testimony and strengthen evidence that's presented to the District Attorney's Office.
"We want to make sure that we present strong cases to the D.A.," Ramsey noted. "It's not that they don't do that already, but it doesn't hurt to strengthen that area."