New recruits from the Philadelphia Police Academy will be deployed in the Kensington district

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — New Philadelphia Police recruits will patrol Kensington.

The department will deploy its most recent graduate class of officers specifically in the problem area.

You will leave the academy in just ten days.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the focus will be on the agency’s Eastern Division, which includes Kensington.

There, Roz Pichardo has done her life’s work as a harm reduction specialist and recently opened Sunshine House to help people with substance use disorders.

“We are not trying to lock people who are already suffering in institutions. We need to create a place of healing, a place of recovery,” says Pichardo.

The police department says it was tasked by Mayor Cherelle Parker to, quote, “address the rampant drug trafficking that has created an environment conducive to open drug trafficking.”

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“This increased presence is aimed not only at enforcing the law and providing assistance to the addiction community, but also at targeting the dangerous vendors who contribute to the violence and instability in Kensington,” said Sergeant Eric Gripp.

“The high level of violence is directly linked to drug trafficking and our increased efforts, which have been underway since last year and have already led to a noticeable reduction in violence,” Gripp continued.

It’s been a month since the city cleared the encampments along Kensington Avenue, but rampant addiction hasn’t been eradicated yet.

“If you ask people to move on, where do they go? There has never been a solution as to where people should go, especially if they live on the streets and have no home,” says Roz Pichardo.

Pichardo says she is willing to work with police officers. She wants police officers to stand up for the community members they are sworn to protect and support. She welcomes them to Sunshine House.

“This can be a learning center for these recruits,” Pichardo said. “This can be a place where they can learn empathy, love, compassion. It can be reactive, and they can learn how to interact with people who have a substance use disorder.”