PHAPD Sgt. Joel Belsky posts a notice about the new anonymous tip program.

PHA Exec. Director Carl Greene announced the new program, surrounded by John Apeldorn of the Citizens Crime Commission, PHA Police Chief Richard Zappile, Deputy Executive Director Michael Leithead, and PHA Commissioner Nellie Reynolds.

John Apeldorn, President of the Citizens Crime Commission, says reward money will come from drug forfeiture funds.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (November 10, 2003) - In a step to help protect PHA properties and residents, the agency today announced that it is joining the Citizens Crime Commissions anonymous tip program. Philadelphia Housing Authority executive director Carl Greene noted that PHA is in the midst of a multi-year, $1 billion construction program and that its important to safeguard that investment.

Were building modern, beautiful mixed-income communities and requiring our customers to maintain their properties as part of PHAs Quality of Life program. The tip-line will allow residents to help ensure that their neighbors properties are protected against vandalism, Greene said. PHAs Quality of Life initiative focuses on the responsibilities of the agencys clients. The program is a community-wide approach to establishing and enforcing norms of conduct and behavior. Crime has fallen dramatically at PHA sites over the past few years as the agency has taken down high-rise projects and moved toward modern less densely populated low-rise design.

PHA Police Chief Richard Zappile said Part 1 the most serious crimes are down 28% over the past two years at PHA conventional developments. He said taking all PHA locations into account; Part 2 crime is down 29%. We believe that the tip-line will mainly affect Part 2 types of crime such as vandalism and graffiti, said Zappile. He said those kinds of incidents remain a problem in the high-rises PHA still operates. Although the agency has demolished 20 of its high-rises, 16 remain in the inventory and there are no current plans to take down any more. (Included in the 16 are three at West Park, three at Blumberg, two at Wilson Park, two at Fairhill, and one each at Mantua, Harrison, Norris, Germantown House, Queen Lane and Emlen Arms.)

PHA crews are posting notices throughout all of the agencys developments, urging residents to help fight crime by calling 215-546-TIPS when they witness quality of life crimes such as vandalism. They can also call with information that might help investigators with ongoing cases. To report a serious crime in progress, PHA urges residents to dial 911, as any other city residents would do. PHAs Resident Advisory Board earlier endorsed the tip line program. Members agreed its an enhancement to the volunteer resident involvement and community partnerships already in place. John Apeldorn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission of Delaware Valley said reward money would come from drug forfeiture funds. He said corporate sponsors would pay the administrative costs of the program.

About PHA
PHA is transforming public housing in the city of Philadelphia. As the nations fourth largest public housing agency serving more than 76,000 residents, PHA is the first housing authority in the U. S. designated by the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) of the National Association of Realtors as an Accredited Management Organization. This designation is awarded to firms engaged in property management that have met IREMs high standards in the areas of education, experience, integrity and financial stability.