The Police Department in Philadelphia is recruiting, but not for the position you think.
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The Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department is excited to begin recruiting a league of engaged entrepreneurs that will address the issue of public safety in the nation’s fifth largest city.
While not the usuall group he would turn to for solutions, Charles H. Ramsey, the former top cop in the nation’s capital, has admittedly gone through a metamorphosis, as he shares that when he started in policing at the age of 18, he thought police had all the answers and didn’t need to collaborate.
Now wishing he had forty more years to give to the business, Ramsey, who originally wanted to be a physician, says if he were a millennial today with the chance to start his career over again, he would harness entrepreneurial talents, resources and innovative ideas to help keep tax-payers safe.
Although he’s aware he won’t be the face of 21st century policing, Ramsey, a thought-leader with a unique perspective on innovation, plans to leverage his current position at the top of the food chain to facilitate conversations with millennial cops and social innovators – who don’t necessarily agree with him – to begin to think about the future.
“The best way to predict the future is to help create it,” says Ramsey, while choosing rather to eat his apple or large chocolate brownie during today’s lunch announcing FastFWD, a partnership between the City of Philadelphia, GoodCompany Group, a social enterprise accelerator, and the Wharton Social Impact Initiative of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an initiative that seeks to recruit and support entrepreneurs in developing solutions to urban challenges.
In its inaugural year, FastFWD will focus on public safety. FastFWD invites entrepreneurs to offer their most innovative public safety solutions, services and products for consideration. Entrepreneurs that submit the most promising ideas will be given capital, development support and access to experts to help refine and implement their ideas.
During lunch, Mayor Michael Nutter, whose administration has been committed to making Philadelphia a more business-friendly city, stated:
“Our Administration is committed to public safety, spending $1.8 billion last year on behalf of our citizens. FastFWD is a unique approach to engage and utilize public-private partnerships and to encourage private sector to work with government in the public interest. In FastFWD’s first cycle, our goal is to harness entrepreneurial talents, resources and innovative ideas to create solutions to the most pressing public safety challenges that our city, and other cities, face every day.”
Applications are due by December 20th, 2013.Ten finalists will be selected in spring 2014 to participate in an intensive, twelve-week accelerator program. During the program, finalists will refine their proposal under the guidance of legal counsel, investors, industry experts and fellow entrepreneurs. Finalists who enter the accelerator program will receive $10,000 stipends provided by FastFWD. Upon completion of the accelerator program, the finalists’ proposals will be eligible for implementation as a fast-track funded pilot.
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Photo: Philly PD