In June 1992, Eric Pitts of North Philadelphia was broadsided by a police cruiser at 17th and Venango, suffering a broken neck. Deputy Police Commissioner Thomas Nestel said the department was trying to curb accidents involving police vehicles. In 1994, the department tightened its directives on chases, and Nestel said commanders were frequently reminded to intervene over the police radio to break off pursuits when circumstances do not warrant the danger. In addition, Nestel said Police Commissioner Richard Neal has increased the department's Accident Reduction Unit from three to seven officers, allowing them to make more frequent visits to police districts to observe driving habits and give officers training. Any officer who is judged to have had more than one preventable accident, Nestel said, is removed from driving duties and given a walking beat.
Remedial training is required before the officer is reassigned to driving duty.
FOR anyone to tell whether Philadelphia is doing worse at maintaining safe streets than other big cities. Each city has its own peculiarities and problems, but no comparative data exists that reflects claims paid by, or safety records of, other cities. City officials admit they need to improve their record-keeping. Information on accidents involving city drivers and road hazards is spread throughout the government. Different records are maintained by the Law Department, the Division of Risk Management, the Office of Fleet Management, and by each department that has vehicles.