1Honoring and memorializing the 20th anniversary of Eddie Polec's
2death and recognizing the reform efforts made to
3significantly improve the Philadelphia 911 emergency response
4system in the wake of this tragedy.

5WHEREAS, Eddie Polec was born on January 21, 1978, in
6Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and

7WHEREAS, Eddie Polec was a resident of the Fox Chase
8community and was a 16 year-old student at the Cardinal
9Dougherty High School in Philadelphia; and

10WHEREAS, During the evening of November 11, 1994, Eddie Polec
11was randomly attacked by six teenagers on the steps of the St.
12Cecilia's Catholic Church where he was an altar boy; and

13WHEREAS, Eddie Polec subsequently died at 10:24 a.m. on
14November 12, 1994, at the Albert Einstein Medical Center; and

15WHEREAS, On March 20, 1996, all six men were found guilty of
16first degree murder and were convicted of the beating death of

1Eddie Polec; and

2WHEREAS, After Eddie Polec's murder, the Fox Chase community
3rallied together to establish the Fox Chase Town Watch, one of
4the largest and most active town watch organizations in
5Philadelphia; and

6WHEREAS, The aftermath of Eddie Polec's shocking death
7highlighted major flaws with the city's 911 emergency response
8system; and

9WHEREAS, Emergency 911 tapes showed 33 calls were made on
10November 11, 1994, and it reportedly took 40 minutes for an
11officer to arrive on scene, even though records show that 13
12police officers were within two miles of the incident; and

13WHEREAS, The Polec family spearheaded a three-year campaign
14calling for improvements to Philadelphia's underfunded and
15overloaded emergency response system; and

16WHEREAS, As a result of their efforts, a new $11 million
17emergency communications system was unveiled in August 1998; and

18WHEREAS, After Eddie Polec's tragic death, Philadelphia
19became better equipped to handle the nearly 2.7 million 911
20calls that come in every year; and

21WHEREAS, Eddie Polec was survived by his mother, Kathy, his
22father, John, his brother, Billy, and his sister, Kristie;
23therefore be it

24RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life of
25Eddie Polec and memorialize the 20th anniversary of his death;
26and be it further

27RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
28the family of Eddie Polec.