Mark Mroz, community relations officer in the 2nd Police District, told 2nd Police District Advisory Council members that the district and the city Department of Licenses and Inspections’ business compliance unit fined the operators of four illegal car washes and confiscated $20,000 worth of equipment.
Two of the operators did not have identification.
Three of the four operators did not contest the fine and confiscation, while the other was verbally abusive.
Mroz also said the district has been addressing homeless encampments on the 7900 block of Roosevelt Blvd. and the 6400 block of Bustleton Ave.
About 100 people citywide, including 31 in the Northeast, were arrested during a recent crackdown on retail theft. Plainclothes officers viewed live surveillance footage in stores and contacted officers outside the stores when they saw someone stealing items. One man was arrested for stealing a cup of coffee from Wawa.
Police showed the principal of Spruance Elementary School surveillance footage of students taking items from the Wawa at 6400 Bustleton Ave. The principal identified nine students, and police contacted their parents and handed the young people letters banning them from that Wawa. One girl crumbled the letter and threw it, drawing an immediate suspension from the principal. One mother said, “Not my child. I give him money every day.” Then, she was shown video of her son stealing. If the nine students are caught stealing from another Wawa, they will be banned from all of the company’s stores.
In other news from the June 11 meeting, there was a discussion of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s plan to open a 640-bed complex on State Road, near the prisons, for addicts and the homeless.
“You’re ruining Holmesburg,” one woman said.
There were suggestions to house the addicts and homeless in one of the many abandoned warehouses in Kensington.
Members were also unhappy that none of the 75 officers who graduated from the police academy on June 17 were assigned to Northeast districts. They are all patrolling Kensington.
The Philadelphia Protestant Home, 6401 Martins Mill Road, will host a free program on AM radio of the 1960s and ‘70s on Wednesday, July 31, at 7 p.m.
State Sen. Jimmy Dillon has replaced state Rep. Kevin Boyle as organizer of the annual National Night Out celebration in the Fox Chase Elementary School yard, 500 Rhawn St., scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 6, at 6 p.m. There will be a DJ and food. At 5 p.m., there will be a leisurely bike ride escorted by police. Participants will be entered into a raffle for free bikes. Call 215-695-1020.
The 2nd PDAC will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 6 p.m. at the Protestant Home. ••
