fineprint

Less words, more story.

by Tasha Kates, Doron Taussig and Julia Zhou

Safety Fourth

Where Hamid Karzai goes, so goes danger. In 2002, the president of Afghanistan survived an assassination attempt in Kandahar. The same year, his vice president was assassinated in Kabul. This March, one of his ministers was murdered in Herat, and a month later, Karzai was again the target of a failed attack in Kandahar.

This weekend, he's expected in Philadelphia, where falling frames and illicit fireworks have been the biggest Independence Day dangers.

Karzai has been tapped to receive the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, a Philadelphia Foundation award recognizing "courage, compassion, creativity, liberty and social justice." Karzai's presence officially has not been confirmed, but if he comes, Mayor John Street will present him the medal, as well as an accompanying $100,000 during a ceremony at Independence Hall on July 4.

Needless to say, the affair poses a security challenge. Because Karzai is a head of state, the Philadelphia Police Department has been working with the U.S. Secret Service. Their overt plan is fairly simple: The city is distributing 1,500 tickets to the ceremony, which are free, but must be reserved ahead of time. When someone reserves a ticket, he or she gives some basic information and the police run a background check.

The checks "won't entail anything that would embarrass anyone," says the department's Chief Inspector Joseph O'Connor. "We're not looking for traffic tickets or underage drinking. We're looking, for example, for someone who's a known fundraiser for Hezbollah."

The police will seal the perimeter of the event space so only people who complete this process will be admitted into the vicinity — after, of course, a magnetometer screening.

City officials would not offer any information about street closures or police deployment because, as O'Connor says, "deployment is never discussed, simply because there might be some ears out there that want to know."

But as miserly as the city's being with details, it's quite generous in offering assurances.

"Your ears go up with the possibility of President Karzai," O'Connor says, but "we've handled high-profile people in the past and we've been successful. There's no reason to think we won't be successful this time as well."
— Doron Taussig

Gang Busters

The federal Department of Justice is sending teams of investigators to 15 cities with hopes of lowering violent crime rates in places "where habitual offenders are concentrated and communities live in fear," U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced last week. Since Philadelphia made the list, we're getting our very own Violent Crime Impact Team today.

It's not that violent crime rates haven't been going down here, said DOJ spokesman Michael Kulstad, who's quick to say local police are doing "a bang-up job." It's just that national rates have been plummeting faster and further.

As of last week, 152 people had been murdered in Philadelphia this year, compared to 155 in the same period last year, one of the deadliest in recent memory. But according to Ashcroft, the national violent crime rate is at a 30-year low. Rich Manieri, spokesman for the regional U.S. Attorney's Office, said the choice of cities was based on more than simple statistics.

"Is there a system in place that can continue that trend [of lowered violent crime rates]? In our case, there is a belief that that trend can be continued by putting a team here," he says.

Philadelphia's new crime-fighting team consists of 14 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, one from the Drug Enforcement Administration, a U.S. Marshal and six from the Police Department. They'll focus on Southwest Philadelphia.

Bob Previdi, spokesman for City Council President Anna Verna, who represents parts of Southwest Philadelphia, reported many complaints there regarding guns, prostitution and drugs.

"The more help we can get, the better," Previdi says.
— Julia Zhou

Free or Not Too Free?

Comcast and T-Mobile busted out their finest silver, tablecloths and wire sculptures last Thursday at Headhouse Square for a public unveiling of Philly's first indoor-outdoor Wi-Fi HotSpot. The HotSpot provides a free T1 Internet connection (read: lightning fast) to anyone with a laptop and a wireless card.

Dave Hammond, executive director of the South Street Headhouse District, said the partnership between the two companies and the city was "cooking for almost a year."

"People are always buzzing about more," Comcast spokesman Jeff Alexander said. "This is another way to give them more."

Users who come to the square expecting Internet service just have to open up a Web browser, go through a short but free registration process, and then use the Internet as they please. Patrons will be able to take a seat anywhere indoors or outdoors and check their e-mail.

There's always a rub, though: The service will remain free until the end of November, when users will be asked to purchase a T-Mobile wireless account.
— Tasha Kates