Dozens of new police will soon be deployed to Kensington, and stricter drug enforcement will begin in mid-June

Dozens of Philadelphia police officers will be deployed to Kensington in the coming weeks as the city officially begins its phased approach of more strictly enforcing drug laws in the troubled neighborhood, The Inquirer has learned.

On Monday, the city will begin the “communication” phase of its plan to stabilize the neighborhood, according to police sources. Signs will be posted and fliers distributed warning people that a stronger police presence is on the horizon, and that open drug use, sales, and quality-of-life crimes will no longer be tolerated.

Then, beginning June 18, the entire 78-person class of officers graduating from the Philadelphia police academy will be assigned to Kensington, Inspector Anthony Luca of the police department’s East Division told neighborhood residents during a community meeting Thursday night.

The new additions will bring the total number of officers policing the neighborhood up to 120, he said, and most will be patrolling on foot. In three different shifts, the officers will move from block to block, more strictly enforcing laws, reducing the amount of open-air drug use and sales, and making arrests if necessary, he said.

Sgt. Eric Gripp, a spokesperson for the police department, said he could not confirm specific deployment and staffing plans for tactical reasons, but that “sharing our plans with community members first has always been a top priority.”

“We are sending a clear message that such [drug] operations are unacceptable in Philadelphia,” he said, adding that the department will have more information to share on strategies for the neighborhood in the coming week.

The planned deployment marks the most significant commitment of police resources to the neighborhood since Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and the department announced a multi-phased plan to shut down the open air drug market.

If the plan unfolds as envisioned, it would be a marked shift for Kensington, the center of a billion-dollar heroin industry that has operated for years. Drug dealers occupy dozens of corners in the neighborhood, raking in thousands of dollars a day. More than 600 people are homeless and live on the streets, openly injecting drugs and experiencing complex physical and mental health crises. Suffering is widespread, and the neighborhood has historically seen some of the highest rates of violence in the city.

Parker took office in January vowing to change those conditions and “stabilize” the neighborhood, and in April, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel outlined a five-phase approach to doing that. First, police will warn people living on the streets or committing crimes of their plans to ramp up enforcement in the area, he said. Then, officers will begin clearing the streets, making arrests, and “removing” drug users.

Bethel has declined to set a timeline for when each phase would begin and end.

Gripp said that “increasing resources in the area is absolutely essential to effect the change that the neighborhood deserves,” and that attention will be paid not only to people in addiction, but also “the dangerous sellers who contribute to the violence and instability.”

Luca also told residents Thursday that the police department’s “entire narcotics division” has been in Kensington the past few weeks, and that federal authorities have been investigating firearms traffickers.

“You guys are definitely taking back your community,” he told the crowded room.

Beginning Monday, according to sources, officials will post signs telling people “what to expect this summer in Kensington,” outlining crimes that will no longer be tolerated. There will be a QR code for people to scan for information about treatment and resources.

The police department’s plan said that during the enforcement phase, officers will first focus on the areas from E Street to Jasper Street, and Tioga Street to Indiana Avenue.

Police have said this will be “a multiday initiative that will include arrests for narcotics, prostitution, quality-of-life crimes and other criminal acts.” Once that initial corridor is cleared and secured, police will expand into surrounding blocks. Eventually, sidewalks will be secured with bike racks and barricades, and deep cleaned.

Bethel said people in addiction will be provided resources for recovery and sobriety, but that they will no longer be permitted to live on the street and openly use drugs.

It was not immediately clear how the city intended to step-up enforcement before a robust treatment system was in place. The city has said there are about 5,200 treatment beds and 2,700 shelter beds citywide — availability varies, but they are consistently more than 90% full.

Still, outreach workers from the city have been more visible in recent months, connecting people in addiction with support and resources for housing and treatment.

Parker this week announced plans to spend more than $100 million building a drug-treatment center that could house more than 600 people near the city’s jail complex in Northeast Philadelphia. While some beds could be available within the next year, the facility would take three years to be completed.

It was also not clear how law enforcement would handle users’ complex health needs. Kensington’s drug supply is toxic and unpredictable. The vast majority of people are injecting fentanyl and xylazine, or “tranq,” which leaves users with large open flesh wounds that are easily infected. Withdrawal symptoms are intense and can begin within 90 minutes.

And when dealers and users are dispersed or arrested, residents said, turf battles and violence can follow. On May 31, a 37-year-old man, crossing the street near the Kensington and Somerset intersection, was shot in the shoulder after two dealers were arguing over a corner, and one opened fire, police said.

Luca, the police inspector, acknowledged that a “power vacuum” among dealers could lead to more shootings, and Councilmember Mike Driscoll told residents “it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.”

“There’s gonna be more deaths,” he said. “This is gonna get ugly.”

Still, he said, Parker “inherited a mess” and he trusts “that she knows what she’s doing.”

Shannon Farrell-Paktis, president of the Harrowgate Civic Association, said she was skeptical about how the plan would work in the long term without a robust treatment system up and running.

“Where will they go?” she said. “There has to be follow through” for access to shelter and treatment.

Still, she said, more police could get people to leave the neighborhood voluntarily, and the threat of constant displacement might tire people out to the point they will finally seek help.

Alfred Klosterman, 73, who lives near Kensington Avenue and Venango Street — just outside the police department’s first enforcement target zone — said he worried that users and dealers would migrate to his block.

The street where he has lived for 30 years had been quiet for a few months after a series of police raids, he said, but since the encampment along Kensington Avenue was cleared in May, users and dealers have returned.

“We will see where it leads,” he said. “We’ve gotten promise after promise. We’ve been fighting this battle for five years.”

And Theresa Ling, who lives off of Frankford Avenue, said that she has been heartened by Parker’s plans for the area, but worries for the safety of the newly minted and inexperienced police officers encountering such a complex and, at times, violent area.

“I’m kind of nervous they’re sending a bunch of rookies out,” said Ling, 59.

Ling, who said she was homeless with her daughter for more than two years, living in a shelter before finding her current housing, said she feels for the people living on the street, but something has to change.

“Homelessness isn’t a crime,” she said. “But sleeping in public places is.”

“They have civil rights, but so do we,” she said. “You shoot up in front of our children, you deal in front of our children … we’re the people suffering.”

Darlene Abner-Burton, who has lived next to Harrowgate Park for 26 years, said she’s just trying to be patient.

“Everyone wants a quick fix but there is none,” she said with a sigh. “I try to be hopeful. I really, really do.”