by KYW's Pat Loeb

Police commissioner Charles Ramsey returned to west Philadelphia Tuesday night to begin his second round of town hall meetings with the community.  

Ramsey started the meetings shortly after his appointment, last January, and promised to return to each police division in the summer.

Ramsey spoke to a full auditorium at the Metropolitan Baptist Church, near Drexel University. He told them that crime statistics were improving, with homicides down 34% and shooting victims down 22 percent.

“I realize we still have a lot of work to do. We certainly know we've got far too much violence and stuff going on in our neighborhoods.”

The crowd was generally supportive-- some thanking the Commissioner for what they see as improvements-- but there were plenty of complaints. 

“What you have done is put people in the neighborhoods similar to the surge Bush did in Iraq but it's having a negative effect on the good people who would like to help you fight crime.”

Ramsey promised improvements and said he'd be back to take stock again in the fall.