Philippe Holland.
A group of West Philly residents are demanding answers about the shooting of an unarmed pizza delivery driver, Philippe Holland, who was critically wounded by two undercover officers near 51st and Willows in April.
The residents, many of whom live near where the shooting happened, are calling for the public release of results from the investigation into the shooting, according to a letter signed by dozens of residents and sent to local media on Monday.
The officers fired 14 times at Holland, striking him in the head, neck and leg. Holland, who is from Upper Darby, is recovering at a hospital in Newark, New Jersey. Many of the same neighbors started the “Fund for Phil” soon after the shooting to help raise money for Holland and his family.
Local residents who are interested in signing the letter should contact Patty Bulack of the 48th Street Neighbors group at: pbulack — at — gmail(dot)com.
Here is the letter in full:
We are residents of the West Philadelphia neighborhood where the 18th are concerned with the safety of our neighborhood and are grateful for the efforts of the Philadelphia Police Department and its officers to keep us and our neighborhood safe. We work hard at creating positive relationships with local public representatives, and with law enforcement, and hope that the outcome of this conversation will lead to an improved relationship, rather than broken trust.
We are writing in response to the shooting of Philippe Holland on April 22, 2014 at 51st and Willows by two undercover police officers. What we believe about the case is as follows:
• Philippe is a pizza delivery man, a job that is dangerous in a neighborhood such as ours where muggings are frequent.
• Police were responding to a shooting in the neighborhood, and suspected that Philippe was the shooter.
• Philippe fled in his car and was driving his car in the direction of the officers.
• In response, officers fired fourteen shots, despite police procedure that directs officers to not shoot at a moving vehicle.
• Three shots hit Philippe, placing him in critical condition.
• The officers who fired the shots were not in uniform, making it unclear who they were to anyone on the scene. We are concerned about that and wish that to be addressed. We believe that police should be clearly identified so as to help bring a situation under control, when they do so in a professional manner. Plainclothes officers have less at their disposal to identify themselves, which is important to do especially in situations where civilians may be distracted or panicked.
• We also question why relatively new officers were assigned to undercover duty in this case.
Given the subtleties that are introduced into their role by being undercover, it seems more prudent that veteran officers be prioritized for assignment to this kind of duty.
We are deeply troubled and disappointed by the actions of the two police officers involved. Many of us could find ourselves in a similar situation, and we are troubled that someone going about their job could be so severely injured by our local law enforcement. We are appreciative of the willingness of our local police to put themselves in danger for the sake of our collective safety. However, the response of the officers in this particular situation made us feel unsafe and we want to make sure this never happens again. Moreover, while the safety of our neighborhood’s residents is important to us, so is the safety of anyone who visits our neighborhood. We value living in a place where diversity thrives and desire it to be open to anyone regardless of race, gender or class. This incident undermined both our safety and our values.
In light of that, we request the following from the 18th Police District:
1. Information about the incident, the investigation and the final outcome: We cannot build trust with our local police force if we have no insight into the procedures that lead to a particular choice made by an officer, all of the details of an event and the reasons for the consequent disciplinary action or lack thereof. Similarly, we cannot trust that the investigation is being carried out justly, without knowing all of the details. Because of this, we request that upon completion of the investigation, the outcome of the investigation and all information relevant to the case be released and made available for community review.
2. Proper discipline for the police officers involved: We are aware that an investigation of this incident is currently underway and we appreciate that the Philadelphia Police Department is this incident seriously. We would like to reiterate the importance of properly disciplining the police officers involved.
Lastly, we want to note that we are aware of the ongoing review of the Philadelphia Police Department by the Department of Justice and of upcoming release of the findings. We plan to attend the public meeting and share our requests with the Department of Justice as well.
We appreciate your time in reading this letter and look forward to your response.
Regards,
Patty Bulack
Jamie Gauthier
Mariya Khandros
Algernong Allen
Barbara Tilley
Susan Heyner
Aravind Joshi
Sue Gerber
David Krueger
Amara Rockar
James Beck
Adam Weaver
James Beadle
Marcy Morgan
Chad Ostrowski
Tom O’Malley
Carolyn McCoy
Bruce Dorpalen
Jason Sandman
Liz Spikol
Nati Passow
Brian Spooner
Irene Plantholt
Steve Plantholt
Molly McGlone
Tina Horowitz
Fran Berge
Michael Froehlich
Bob Behr
Nancy Juergens
Jessi Roemer
Josh Block
Maryte Papadopoulos
Yanni Papadopoulos
Regine Joseph
Stacey Holiday
Lee Garner
Tim Emmett-Rardin
Jo-Ann Fishburn
Kimya Jackson
Margaret Ferrigno
Pamela Kane
Amy Kietzman
Karena Thurston Valentine
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