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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 25, 2014 04:31 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Kevin J. Boyle |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Resolution Honoring and Memorializing the 20th Anniversary of the Death of Eddie Polec |
| In the very near future, I plan to introduce a resolution honoring and memorializing the 20th anniversary of Eddie Polec’s death. In addition, this resolution recognizes the reform efforts made to significantly improve the Philadelphia 911 emergency response system in the wake of this tragedy. Eddie Polec was born on January 21, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A resident of the Fox Chase community, Eddie was a sixteen year-old student at the Cardinal Dougherty High School in Philadelphia and an altar boy at the St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church. On November 11, 1994, Eddie was randomly attacked and killed by six teenagers on the steps of the St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church. As a result of the attack, Eddie passed away the very next morning at the Albert Einstein Medical Center. On March 20, 1996, justice was served, as all six attackers were found guilty of first degree murder. The aftermath of Eddie’s shocking death highlighted major flaws with the city’s 911 emergency response system. Specifically, emergency 911 tapes showed that 33 calls were made on November 11, 1994, and it reportedly took 40 minutes for an officer to arrive on scene, even though records show that 13 police officers were within two miles of the incident. The Polec family spearheaded a three-year campaign calling for improvements to Philadelphia’s underfunded and overloaded emergency response system. As a result of their relentless efforts, a $11 million emergency communication system was unveiled in August 1998, allowing Philadelphia’s 911 emergency response system to better handle the nearly 2.7 million calls that come in every year. Please join me in honoring and memorializing the 20th anniversary of Eddie Polec’s death and recognizing the reform efforts made to the Philadelphia 911 emergency response system. |
Introduced as HR926