Police displayed Thursday more than $70,000 in cash as well as drugs and weapons seized during a bust at a house in Harrisburg’s Allison Hill neighborhood earlier this week.
Investigators gave few details, only saying police arrested more than one person as part of a larger investigation. Police executed a search warrant at what they called a “stash house.”
During a press conference Thursday morning, Chief Thomas Carter was quick to address his concerns about the community’s perception of his officers.
“There’s been a lot of talk, even from the media, saying that Harrisburg police, they’re not doing anything. They’re not engaging criminals out there. It’s all talk. We’re fixing numbers. And, that sort of hurt because we have guys out there, we have officers out there risking their lives everyday,” said Carter.
Capt. Colin Cleary spoke about the bureau’s efforts to be more visible in the community, including increasing foot patrols. He said so far this year, officers have conducted more than 2,600 of those patrols.
Sgt. Milo Hooper, who heads up the bureau’s street crimes unit, said his team has made 219 arrests this year and seized $30,465 worth of drugs.
“A lot of people believe that the police aren’t doing anything. There’s obviously a lot to do,” said Hooper.
He pointed to the money seized in the bust earlier this week, noting most of the bills were smaller denominations.
“Each one of these dollars, each one of these bills you see on this table potentially represents a person that could have bought something that we actually stopped them from purchasing. You can look at each one of these dollars as a life that may have been saved,” said Hooper.