PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Police officers who are out on patrol this weekend will be working longer hours than usual in an effort to slow down some of the gun violence in the city. The patrol officers will work 12-hour shifts instead of the normal eight-hour shifts, Friday through Sunday.
Deputy Police Commissioner Joel Dales said the violence of last weekend is the reason for the increased presence. A few dozen people were shot, and several of them were killed, last weekend. Dales was speaking at the city's bi-weekly gun violence news conference on Wednesday.
"So we want to make sure that we can definitely put things in place and make sure we have sufficient amount of personnel," Dales said.
The deputy commissioner noted that some officers are away on vacation, so the Police Department is short-staffed at the moment and needs to ensure that areas of high crime are covered.
Dales said the department is working on other strategies, as well, but he said they would consider using the extended-hours tactic again, if needed. That is a concern to the police union.
"If this is going to be a common occurrence, then we're going to have an issue with it. If it's just for this weekend, we'll get through it," Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 President John McNesby told NBC 10.
"But we got to come up with better solutions rather than just holding people down and keeping them 12 hours a day."
