Some of the multiple forums Nutter and Ramsey had early on to talk about their actual law enforcement strategies.

http://www.kyw1060.com/Police-Commissioner-Ramsey-To-Hold-Community-Meet...

Then there was this Inquirer article about the community outreach Ramsey and Nutter undertook around the police beating captured on news copter video.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/philadelphia/20080525_Ramsey__Nutte...

And then there was this forum hosted by the ADA.
http://www.phillyada.org/blog/?q=node/20

And this forum hosted by Concerned Black Lawyers and moderated by Damon Roberts.
http://www.phillyada.org/blog/?q=node/28

Basically, I really have to say that Ramsey's tenure has so far been noticable more for his receptitiveness to community meetings, to reach out to various members of the community, rather than the opposite.

Philadelphia police-community relations have a ways to go still but a couple of quotes from the Inky article above really jump out:

"I can't remember in the history of Philadelphia when a commissioner has come out this strongly so quickly," said the Rev. Terrence Griffith, pastor of the First African Baptist Church in South Philadelphia and vice president of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity.

"Our relations with the police have reached a high point with this outsider who has come in," NAACP president J. Whyatt Mondesire said about Ramsey, a Chicago native who was chief in Washington for nine years before Nutter recruited him.

And this.

A week later, Ramsey and his staff had singled out eight officers whose behavior he believed violated department policy. On May 16, Ramsey gathered the NAACP's Mondesire and two representatives of the black clergy organization, Griffith and the Rev. Damone B. Jones Sr. He told them to keep the news to themselves, but that action was imminent.

"I left the meeting feeling we had a good police commissioner who is honest and has integrity," Griffith said.

Three days later, Ramsey announced the disciplinary actions.

Nutter, who had promised to contact Sharpton if any decision was made, called the activist in New York immediately after the news conference in Philadelphia. Sharpton put Nutter on his radio show, and gushed about the Philadelphians' "unprecedented" response.

Mondesire, who had told his constituents that "you don't have to get riled up about this one," was impressed with Ramsey's decisiveness.

Mondesire also praised the commissioner for producing a video in which he explained the disciplinary actions to the rank and file.

It was shown at roll calls last week.

"That shows a different level of communication skills than we've had in the past," Mondesire said.

I'm very interested to hear more concrete details about this recent arrest but to be absolutely clear the blank assertion that this mayor and this police commissioner are less then a noticeable step forward from the past in terms of community relations seems pretty dubious to me.

-Sean
MrLuigi, my cat, actually only types half as badly as I do.

Well its an interesting collection of stuff, and I appreciate the contribution, as you make legit points. Perhaps they've been "better" which isn't necessarily good, and I think it is legitimate for people to challenge them to be better----this "stop and frisk" stuff is bad news all the way around.

I think the key point with this is not that one sentence you cite, per se (although i do appreciate the collection of quotes and links) but the point that it seems these activists just got pretty screwed over. I, too, am waiting for more information... But, I really want to help get the word out, so that the chances are better of these folks getting fair treatment and having the facts get out.

I've personally known the folks at Prometheus Radio for many years, and called both the folks listed at the bottom to confirm the email, so this does seem like a very serious story. There is precedent of activists being abused by Philly cops.

We have a long way to go from the culture of Frank Rizzo senior. Look as far as I am concerned with this and most things - its about accountability first and foremost. Nutter, whatever else, was the councilman who championed the establishment of the Police Advisory Commission in Philadelphia.If our aim is to work on establishing a community policing as a force for making ALL of our communities feel that the police work for protecting them, I would argue that we have never had a more receptive police commissioner and mayor to the idea that ultimately the police force serves and protects all of our communities.

At a basic level this is an administration for all its talk of aggressive enforcement against illegal guns that gets it. Its worth be trying to be strategic about how you put your point across to them. If you are interested in floating concerns as about "reform" and making the logic and theory behind law enforcement be about professionalism - I honestly think you will have a receptive audience with Nutter and Ramsey.

-Sean
MrLuigi, my cat, actually only types half as badly as I do.

A vague email forward does not cut it here, especially if you are accusing people of fairly serious stuff. If you have more than that, post it. If not, please wait till you get something a little more concrete, like any sort of actual source.

The PhillyIMC just received this update from Prometheus Radio. As noted at the bottom, there will be a press conference on Monday.
BTW, thanks Jennifer for also vouching for the integrity of Danielle, the author of the email I posted.

UPDATE from Prometheus:

-----------------------
June 14th 8:10 AM Philadelphia. Homeowners were released from custody after being held without charges for up to 14 hours early this morning. The 4 were taken into custody yesterday after police arrived at their door without a warrant demanding entry to the premises. Upon being refused entry without the proper paperwork they arrested the homeowners and forced entry to the premises. After arresting the homeowners the police proceeded to call the Department of Licenses and Inspections which found the property in violation of various codes and permits and ordered the building cleaned and sealed. The police operation was led by 9th district Commanding Officer, Captain Wilson.

I'm assuming the frequent references to "homeowners" are because the house might be mistaken for a squat, or at least there is concern that it might be mislabeled as such. I'm taking it the house itself is possibly in somewhat sketchy condition in terms of physical maintenance. So why the assumption that it has to do with "stop-and-frisk"? The involvement of L&I in with the spot condemnation and physically sealing the house could be politically motivated, but is there any possibility that the cops and L&I came out against the house itself? Like the cops wrongly assuming its drug house or squat.

I just don't see even the most nefarious police commander raiding a house because a couple of the people living there put up anti-"stop and frisk" flyers or what have you - particularly because they haven't even unveiled any of the proposed "Targeted Enforcement Zones" or even announced where and when they might do so. No announcement means no focused protest against the announcement. The whole thing seems kind of too nebulous to warrant the response. On the other hand I imagine this is a house with a lot of anarchist/activist types coming and going and the Presidential season heating up, the police have been known to do stuff like this in many cities say the week before a national political convention or World Trade Organization in order to round up potential protesters and hold them for the week preemptively, a la the RNC. The problem is I can't think of any specific marquis protest events like that coming up.

Is anybody in the house Hugs for Puppies or similar animal rights protesters of the type that attract attention from the Feds or state police?
-Sean
MrLuigi, my cat, actually only types half as badly as I do.