Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, right, accompanied by Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, center, speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, March 11. — AP Photo/Matt Rourke
When Mayor Cherelle Parker and Police Chief Kevin Bethel released their plan to improve public safety in Philadelphia it marked a much needed shift in direction in addressing crime in the city.
For years, some local officials advocated polices that have resulted in a less rigorous enforcement and prosecution of laws required to keep career criminals off the streets and the public safe.
For years, the Kensington section of Philadelphia has been allowed to become a large open air drug markets with addicts openly using fentanyl, heroin and other dangerous drugs in broad daylight and people defecating in the street.
This overly permissive approach to enforcement and prosecution is the result of well-intentioned national movement on criminal justice reform that in practice is sometimes counterproductive and dangerous.
For example, bail reform efforts that sought to address the problem of people being unjustly kept in jail because they didn’t have enough money have resulted in too many dangerous criminal suspects being released on the streets to commit more crimes. Bail reform is in need of reform.
Reform efforts to treat shoplifters who steal under a certain amount as a summary offense have resulted in less serious consequences for criminal behavior. Unsurprisingly this has resulted in more retail theft.
The New York Police Department reported that nearly a third of all shoplifting cases in the city in 2022 involved just 327 people who were arrested and rearrested more than 6,000 times, according to the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform.
Critics of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner blame the district attorney’s progressive polices which called for less severe punishment for certain retail theft offenders.
In Philadelphia, reported retail theft rose 21% between 2017 and 2021, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer investigation. In 2023, retail theft incidents were up 27% from the year before according to Philadelphia Police Department data.
Krasner says his polices have been mischaracterized. However, Krasner recently announced a new task force to target “prolific offenders” who repeatedly steal, as well as larger criminal organizations that resell stolen goods.
While crimes involving teenagers often grab headlines, the majority of crime is committed by adult career criminals who victimize people over and over.
In Philadelphia and other major U.S. cities, repeat criminals are the main drivers of crime.
This week Krasner announced a new unit dedicated to prosecuting people who have been repeatedly caught with illegal guns. He said the new unit will focus specifically on repeat offenders who use guns again and again in their crimes.
Last week Mayor Parker released a public safety plan that includes hiring police officers, increasing reliance on data-driven policing to reach the neighborhoods most affected by crime, modernizing the police force through technology and strengthening partnerships between police and community members.
On Kensington, Parker’s position is a shift from her predecessor, former Mayor Jim Kenney. Her plan calls for ending the open-air drug market in the neighborhood, where addiction and violence have been commonplace for years. The mayor’s plan proposes a five-phase process including referrals to treatment for addicts and arresting people for drug possession. Under Kenney there was largely a standoff approach to drug activity in Kensington.
Parker’s plan also calls for expanding year-round schooling, vocational training and other crime prevention programs that help to direct young people away from crime.
Some criticize Parker’s policies as moving toward conservatism when they actually move toward common sense. Parker and other moderate Democratic mayors in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and other U.S. cities realize that you can have both sensible criminal justice reform and public safety.
They realize that they must act now to reduce gun violence while working on reducing poverty and other long-term solutions.
They realize that allowing open drug use is not an act of compassion but reckless encouragement of lawlessness.
To be clear, there should be no return to the era of mass incarceration and unjust sentencing. Criminal justice reform is absolutely necessary. But the rights of victims and ensuring safety must be the main driver of policy.
Elected officials must now send a clear message through words and actions that there will be consequences for criminal behavior, especially by repeat offenders.
While career criminals negatively impact the safety and quality of life for all communities, there is a racial disparity in victimization. In 2022, the FBI reported there were 10,470 Black murder victims and 7,704 white murder victims, despite the far larger white population.
Elected officials who care about racial inequality and social justice should make public safety a top priority.
Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune