Cop's punch spurs changes to the Puerto Rican Parade

IT'S BEEN a year since outrage erupted after veteran cop Lt. Jonathan Josey was captured on video slugging a woman to the ground in the aftermath of the Philadelphia Puerto Rican Day Parade - anger that bubbled up anew when the disgraced officer got his job back last month.

But the controversial incident has spurred what officials are calling much-needed change to post-parade activities as well as policing for this year's event - even amid concern that angry protesters may give cops a hard time.

"Due process had to take place, and those things are out of our hands," Joanna Otero-Cruz, executive director of Concilio, a social-service agency that sponsors and organizes the parade, said of the Josey affair.

"What can we do as a community? Everybody has the right to celebrate and be proud, but how can we do it in a safe way?"

Concilio, city officials and police have been working since last November on ways to shift the parade aftermath to a structured, organized series of family events.

Mayor Nutter is expected to announce this week that the parade, which kicks off at noon Sept. 29 along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, will include postparade activities such as an evening concert at the Dell and a free movie in Fairhill Park.

When Concilio hit tough financial times in the 1980s, it had to cut back on such additional events, which by the late 1990s had totally disappeared, Otero-Cruz said. Two decades ago, the parade was marred by vandalism along the 5th Street corridor, including a SEPTA bus set ablaze and damaged police vehicles.

Throngs of people gather within the area of Hunting Park and Girard avenues and 2nd and 5th streets after the parade, where there are frequently arrests for disorderly conduct, DUI, robbery and assaults on police officers.

"Hopefully the idea is individuals will have outlets now to go to," Otero-Cruz said.

This year, the city will stress its low tolerance for drunkenness by displaying warning signs and by reminding business owners not to serve alcohol to minors, said Jennifer Rodriguez, executive director of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant and Multi-Cultural Affairs, adding there will also be language-assistance services to help communicate with the community.

"It's going to take years to change some of that bad behavior that exists," said City Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez. "The problem has become the evolution of postparade events that happen in the street. By sending a message around positive behavior, we're hoping we can somehow change that."

There will also be changes in policing, including the presence of police captains and other high-ranking personnel, said police spokesman Lt. John Stanford, noting the new strategy was a direct result of the incident involving Josey.

Josey, a 19-year veteran who was fired shortly after he punched Aida Guzman after last year's parade, was reinstated last month.

Kelvyn Anderson, executive director of the Police Advisory Commission, was concerned that protesters upset with the way things turned out may show up to the parade to challenge police.

The concert at the Dell will include salsa band Tus Ojos, Tego Calderon and other local acts from 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 for general admission and $15 for VIP. There will also be food vendors.

The movie in the park will start at 4 p.m. in Fairhill Park at 4th Street and Lehigh Avenue. Admission is free.

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