Some new technology helped a 15th Police District officer find a stolen car and make a narcotics arrest.
Using a patrol car equipped with a license plate scanner, Officer Daniel Gorman found the stolen vehicle on March 3, Capt. Frank Bachmayer, the district’s commander, announced at the April 30 meeting of the 15th Police District Advisory Council.
The scanner reads license plates as the officer drives, compares what is read to national and state databases, and alerts the officer when a stolen auto is found. The officer then verifies the information the scanning software gave him and further investigates.
On March 3, Gorman stopped the vehicle that had been flagged by the scanner. He arrested two people and found 48 packets of heroin.
On March 26, the officers stopped a vehicle after observing a traffic violation. He noticed the auto’s operator screwing on the top of an ice tea can. That can contained 102 grams of heroin worth about $2,600. The driver was arrested.
Those arrests and Gorman’s other activities prompted his award as Officer of the Month for March.
In other business, the PDAC’s members discussed the May 19 Community Day, which will be located at Frankford and Cottman avenues (at Ryan Avenue) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There will be a run, a dunk tank and 18 information tables, said PDAC treasurer Pete Specos.
The PDAC, which usually meets on the last Monday of every month, will meet this month on May 21 because of the Memorial Day holiday.
The district is divided into three police service areas. Supervisors meet with residents monthly to exchange information.
PSA 1, which is the southern third of the district, will meet 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22, at Aria Health’s Frankford campus, 4900 Frankford Ave.
PSA 2’s session will be at the Wissinoming Recreation Center at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15. PSA 2 serves the center of the district.
Officers from PSA 3, the north end of the district, will meet the public at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 10, at the Tacony Baptist Church on Disston Street. ••
