Rikard Larma/Metro.
Congressman Chaka Fattah was the featured speaker Tuesday at a Philadelphia Housing Authority Police Department induction ceremony celebrating the addition of 50 new recruits.
The event was held at the Norman Blumberg Apartments at 1515 Judson Way, where last week a 16-year-old boy was shot as he crossed the housing project’s courtyard.
The 50 new Philadelphia Housing Authority police officers are funded by a $20 million investment from the PHA’s Safe Affordable Housing for Everyone program.
The addition is the first expansion of the PHA Police Department in over a decade, and more than doubles the size of the current force.
The officers’ efforts will be focused primarily on six PHA developments – the Blumberg Apartments, the Hill Creek Apartments in Northeast Philadelphia, Raymond Rosen Manor in North Philadelphia, Wilson Park in South Philadelphia, the Westpark Apartments in West Philadelphia and the Abbottsford Homes in Allegheny West.
