On Wednesday, after winning the November election in a 4-to-1 landslide, mayor elect Michael Nutter sent reporters a email that the following morning he’d make a major announcement. Police commissioner ... Police Commissioner ... Police Commissioner, I prayed. He didn’t. Standing outside of City Hall that chilly morning, Nutter named a finance director. But he couldn’t escape the question, which reporters repeatedly hammered. Much of the anxiety for an answer is the frightful uncertainty the city faces as it careens toward 400 homicides this year, mixed with helplessness of current police chief Sylvester Johnson’s shoulder-shrug, defeatist attitude in stopping it. Nutter vows that on his first day of office he will declare a state of emergency, and hopefully on that day whoever he declares police commissioner will address the city, particularly those trapped in bullet-riddled neighborhoods, vowing to do everything in his power to quell gun violence. Then, he'll focus on deployment, bringing fearful residents the beat cops they long for. And he'll present and maintain the strong leadership and hope the post has long been lacking.(Photo credit: Jeff Fusco)
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