The Far Northeast is going to be bluer.
John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, told members of the Millbrook Civic Association that with the union moving its headquarters from Center City to an old IRS building just off Comly Road and the Police Department taking over the old Reserve Center on Woodhaven Road, a lot more police officers are going to travel to the Northeast.
“You’re going to have more police up here than anywhere in the city,” he said.
That should make residents feel safer. Having the FOP’s HQ and the city’s new training facility in the Northeast is a convenience for officers, too.
“Sixty-eight percent of our members live up here,” McNesby said during the civic group’s March 27 meeting in the Calvary Athletic Association on Deerpath Lane.
The union leader, who also is a Millbrook resident, told residents to expect a lot from the 8th Police District’s new commander, Capt. Leonard Ditchkofsky.
“He’s a good guy, and he knows crime,” McNesby said. “He knows how to find it … and he knows how to aggressively stop it.”
Those comments drew some applause from the small crowd in attendance last week.
“People will notice a change,” he added. “You’re going to see response time quicken.”
Politics was on McNesby’s agenda, too.
He made a pitch for Ed Neilson, the Democrat running to replace Dennis O’Brien in the 169th Legislative District in an April 24 special election. McNesby said he liked Republican Dave Kralle, a longtime O’Brien aide, but said he felt Neilson would be a better advocate for police interests.
In other business, Town Watch members Ken Grow and Mike Lamb said they recently completed training. They added that they will set up a Facebook page for the local Watch group that they’ve been working hard to reinvigorate.
Recording secretary Mike Bremser said the civic association will not meet on April 24 because it is Election Day. Instead, members will gather at week earlier, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17, at the Calvary A.A. ••
