We’ve finally declared a public safety emergency in Philadelphia. But why do we have to wait to act on it?

Mayor Cherelle Parker got a lot of people’s attention — including mine — when she declared a citywide public safety emergency just hours after being publicly sworn in as the city’s 100th mayor. It was something City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier and countless others had pushed former Mayor Jim Kenney to do in his last term as gun violence in the city soared.

The ambitious-sounding order calls on newly named Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel to work with newly named Managing Director Adam Thiel and other city department heads to deliver a plan within 100 days to hire more police officers, address violent crime, combat quality-of-life offenses, and shut down open-air drug markets. Bethel, the order states, should employ “any lawful means necessary to abate the public safety emergency.” -- More...

JUST IN: The Philadelphia police department has fired their first ever DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) officer.

Good ????

DEI officer Leslie Marant was fired just hours before new commissioner Kevin Bethel was set to take office.

Marant's base salary was a whopping… pic.twitter.com/aQjsPGejgv

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 5, 2024