As Commissioner Danielle Outlaw steps aside, the Philadelphia Police Department faces a time of transition

The John Stanford era is set to begin.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw will officially step down Friday, ending her three-and-a-half year tenure atop the ranks to head to a new job at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Her resignation means the department will be handed over to Stanford, her former first deputy, who will serve as interim commissioner.

Outlaw, the first Black woman to serve as commissioner, is expected to step aside without making any public appearances to mark her departure, which she announced earlier this month. It was not clear whether Stanford would have a public swearing-in ceremony or take any other steps to mark his ascension to the top of the force — the culmination of a two-decade career climbing the ranks.

A department spokesperson did not make Stanford available for an interview this week, and Stanford has not yet spoken publicly about his impending promotion or how he might make the role his own.

The change in command marks a time of transition for the beleaguered Police Department, which for years has been battling high rates of gun violence in the city, major staffing shortages, flagging morale, and ongoing public scandals. Stanford is expected to serve as the city’s top cop through at least the end of the year, but the city’s next mayor will be tasked with naming a permanent commissioner — whether Stanford or someone else — upon being sworn in in January.

The jockeying for the Police Department’s top job has been a topic of significant interest in law enforcement and political circles; gossip has been swirling for months about who’s in the running, and who may have an inside track for the job. The appointee will oversee one of the nation’s largest police forces, with about 6,500 employees and an annual budget of $800 million.

Democratic mayoral nominee Cherelle Parker — who is favored to win the election — said earlier this week that she wanted a commissioner with knowledge of the city, a contrast to the selection of Outlaw, a native of Oakland, Calif., who was chief in Portland, Ore., before being hired away by Mayor Jim Kenney at the end of 2019.

Parker is reportedly considering several internal candidates — including Stanford and two other deputy commissioners, Joel Dales and Frank Vanore — as well as several other law enforcement officials with ties to the city or the Police Department. John McNesby, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, has said the union wants to see an internal hire.

Stanford in recent months has already begun taking on some of the public-facing duties typically reserved for a commissioner, such as speaking at press conferences, issuing statements on the department’s behalf, and posing for a photo with a new class of recruits.

Hans Menos, the former head of the city’s Police Advisory Commission, said he believes whoever is chosen to serve as the next commissioner should recognize and promote the fact that police and law enforcement have, too often, been viewed as the only tool to ensure public safety. The department’s next leader, he said, should seek out opportunities to work with experts in other areas — such as public health, homelessness, or grassroots violence prevention — in the effort to reduce crime.

“Our next police commissioner needs to focus on ensuring that they are part of a larger government effort toward public safety,” said Menos, now a vice president at the Center for Policing Equity, an advocacy group. “Not the owner of it, but an equal participant.”

Outlaw’s departure was motivated, she said, in part by a desire to allow the next mayor to choose a new chief. After she announced her resignation, Kenney said she deserved credit for handling a series of crises that erupted during her time here — including COVID, civil unrest, record levels of gun violence, and widespread municipal staffing shortages. Community members and other officials had mixed opinions on her tenure.

Before Outlaw’s departure, the last two permanent commissioners to step down did so under markedly different circumstances.

When Richard Ross resigned in 2019, he did so under duress, and in a way that caught many by surprise. A woman who worked in the department accused Ross in a lawsuit of retaliating against her for breaking off an affair she said they’d had for two years.

Ross denied the allegations, but said he had become worn down by the job and didn’t want the lawsuit — or his role in it — to become another issue for the department to face.

“I just thought it was in the best interest of all concerned, the community, the mayor, and the police officers, to move on,” Ross said at the time.

One of his deputies, Christine Coulter, served as interim commissioner until Kenney appointed Outlaw. Coulter — whose six-month tenure made her the first woman to lead the department — then served as one of Outlaw’s deputies until being reassigned to the post of chief inspector last year.

Ross’ predecessor, meanwhile — Charles Ramsey — stepped down in 2015 to allow Kenney, then mayor-elect, to choose his own commissioner. Ramsey at the time was one of the most popular figures in the city, and he announced his retirement at a City Hall news conference at which his boss, then-Mayor Michael Nutter, was nearly moved to tears behind the podium.

“Thank you for coming to Philadelphia,” Nutter said. “Thank you for making our city a safer city.”

For her part, Outlaw said she enjoyed her time in the city, but was also looking forward to a new role as a deputy chief at the Port Authority, where she’ll help oversee security for the New York region’s bridges, tunnels, ports, and airports.

“It’s exciting,” she said in an interview earlier this month. “In law enforcement, we have so many transferable skills.”

Outlaw’s salary here was $299,000, but the Port Authority has declined to specify how much she’ll be paid there until she starts her new job. A spokesperson said she’ll begin work “by the end of the month.”