Commentary: Timoney an innovative crime-fighter who made Philly safer

While we mourn his passing with sadness, John Timoney, who was once described as having "the soul of a street cop, the analytical skills of a professor, and the gruff tenacity of - in his words - an 'egomaniacal loudmouth,'" will be remembered by many for having revolutionized the way the Philadelphia Police Department looked at and developed strategies to fight crime.

It could be said that Timoney was an innovator at a time when innovation in law enforcement was in short supply. So it's only fitting that his recent obituary in the New York Times would read, "John F. Timoney, a blunt Irish-born cop who could outrun crooks and quote Yeats and who, as a ranking police official in New York, Philadelphia, and Miami, plotted innovative strategies that helped reverse years of skyrocketing crime."

My first introduction to Timoney was in 1996, when he was the first deputy police commissioner in New York City. Known as the "Gang of Five," I was part of a bipartisan group of Philadelphia legislators that included state Sen. Anthony Williams, state Rep. Dwight Evans, and former state Reps. John Perzel and George Kenney, who regularly worked together to help solve critical problems facing our city.

Curious about New York City's success in reducing crime, we took a trip there to learn firsthand what they were doing. Enter John Timoney and "Compstat" - the merging of computers and data to analyze statistics and develop strategies to fight crime. Described as a "marriage of computers and common sense to spot and stop crime trends," Compstat was the innovative law-enforcement tool that Timoney would eventually bring to Philadelphia in 1998, when he became police commissioner, and put us on a path to being a safer city.

Realizing when he arrived here that Philadelphia had no set methodology or scientific approach to fighting crime - or even a requirement that all crimes be accurately reported - Timoney quickly demanded that officers report all crimes in order to get a clear and accurate statistical picture of the situation in each neighborhood throughout the city.

I shared Timoney's philosophy of transparency and truthfulness when I led a state House investigation into violence in our public schools. In 1999, Philadelphia - with three times as many students as Pittsburgh - was reporting a few hundred violent incidents a year. Pittsburgh was reporting a little over a thousand annually.

Requiring accurate reporting of all violent incidents in schools helped us get a realistic picture of the problem, and helped us devise and implement a strategy to address the violence. It was the same approach Timoney took to the city as a whole.

Some of Timoney's accomplishments included a reversal of top-down management decision-making. He gave greater authority and autonomy to local district police captains - allowing them to make strategic decisions on how best to fight crime in their own local jurisdictions.

The commissioner increased police activity in neighborhoods throughout the city. He improved police training and was open to new ideas and different ways of thinking about crime and public safety. He saw his role as providing advice, direction, and resources - while holding local district captains accountable for positive results.

Timoney epitomized a new breed of police officer in the late 1990s. Like so many in law enforcement today - traits we now take for granted - Timoney was smart, analytical, and courageous. He possessed the necessary street smarts and compassion to devise and implement pragmatic and realistic technology-based strategies aimed at fighting crime and protecting our citizens by efficiently using limited police resources.

John Timoney will be missed by many, but he left behind a legacy and trail of success that many have followed and will continue to emulate in years to come.

As we say good-bye to Timoney, a man who chose to be an American and make Philadelphia his home for four short years, and as we convey our sympathies to his family and fellow police officers, it is fitting to quote the Irish poet, William Butler Yeats:

"I have believed the best of every man. And find that to believe is enough to make a bad man show him at his best, or even a good man swings his lantern higher."