Philly City Council leaders are backing a plan to increase police funding and add more officers to the force

Two years after freezing spending on police in response to the killing of George Floyd, Philadelphia City Council leaders are backing a plan that would steer millions in new funding to the department and add more officers.

The plan by Majority Leader Cherelle Parker, which is supported by Council President Darrell Clarke and at least four other council members, comes in addition to a $23.7 million increase Mayor Jim Kenney is proposing for the Police Department.

Unveiling their 17-page proposal a day before Kenney is to deliver his annual budget address, the group of councilmembers cited the ongoing gun violence crisis as a reason to “shore up our police force and restore a sense of public safety and civil order in our communities.”

They said their proposal would add 125 more officers and pay for a handful of other programs, including some focused on quality-of-life issues like trash and street lighting.

Parker’s office did not release a total estimated cost, saying some steps require the administration to conduct an audit to assess need. It would likely cost more than $8 million to fund salaries and benefits for 125 new police officers.

“There is a real belief amongst people that a sense of lawlessness is being allowed to prevail,” she said during a news conference attended by community activists, elected officials, and District Attorney Larry Krasner. “They are demanding more community policing.”

But Kenney on Wednesday said the department, which is authorized to have 6,380 officers on its payroll, is already struggling to fill more than 400 vacancies amid a nationwide shortage of recruits. In addition, more than 560 officers are off duty on injury claims.

Kenney said the city’s struggle in attracting new officers is partly due to a new requirement that applicants live in the city for at least a year before they apply — a provision championed by Parker and Clarke in 2020.

“If councilmembers are requesting that we increase our police force,” Kenney said, “they got to take the handcuffs, so to speak, off our ability to recruit.”

Kenney’s proposed increase to the $758 million police budget would largely fund salaries and raises agreed to as a result of negotiations with the police union. It also includes an extra $2.7 million to the department to purchase more cell phones and laptops for homicide detectives and a $515,000 bump for forensics upgrades.

Jim Engler, Kenney’s chief of staff, said there are “a number of things in” Parker’s plan that the administration supports. It’s not yet clear if some tenets — like increasing police foot patrols and fostering stronger relationships with small-business owners — could be mandated through legislation, or are administrative initiatives she wants the department to undertake.

» READ MORE: Cherelle Parker: 300 new community police officers could help stem Philly’s pervasive violence | Opinion

The six members of Council present Wednesday aren’t a majority of the 17-member body. But the bloc does include some of its most influential voices and sets the tone for what will likely be months of negotiations.

Last year, Council and the administration agreed on a plan keeping the department’s general budget roughly flat, save for a modest increase to fund a new citizen’s oversight commission.

And in 2020, as the city was gripped by racial justice protests after the murder of Floyd by police in Minneapolis, a majority of Council, including Parker and Clarke, rejected a proposed $19 million increase to the police budget.

That effort was largely led by a progressive wing of Council that has expanded its political power and influence over the last five years. Clarke has long rejected calls to reduce police funding, and Parker said this week she has “never been an advocate” for defunding the police.

“Philadelphians want to see a proactive presence of community policing in their neighborhoods,” she said, “and not just responding to crime, but they want them there as a part of the fabric of their neighborhoods.”

Multiple councilmembers rumored to be 2023 mayoral candidates — including Parker — are jockeying to be seen as strong on issues of public safety after Philadelphia last year saw 562 homicides, the most recorded in at least 60 years.

At-large Councilmember Derek Green, also a potential mayoral candidate, said he’s proposing legislation to fund signing and retention bonuses of up to $10,000 for new cadets when more than 5% of budgeted positions are vacant. He’ll also this week introduce a bill that would loosen the residency rule and allow for some exceptions for college graduates and veterans.

Parker emphasized that the city is legally allowed to waive the residency requirement when there aren’t “qualified” Philadelphia residents available to fill vacant positions. She also said blaming that provision is a “red herring” and suggested more people will want to be police officers if their relationship with community members improves.

A handful of neighborhood-based advocates said Wednesday that they backed Parker’s plan, which they said balances their desire for criminal justice reform and improved public safety.

“She put up a plan,” said Anton Moore, an antiviolence activist. “We need to throw the kitchen sink at this thing we call violence. And this is a plan to address young people being killed.”

But some progressives remain skeptical. Kris Henderson, executive director of the public interest law center Amistad Law Project, said the department’s budget is already bloated and adding more officers provides only “the illusion of security.”

“We can get more surveillance, more cops patrolling the streets harassing our neighbors, but we can’t actually get safety with that,” Henderson said. “We need resources, and that looks like many things other than more money for the Police Department.”

Earlier this month, Henderson and dozens of other activists gathered on Market Street to call for an expansion of city-run mobile crisis units, which are staffed by medical practitioners — not police — who respond to calls for people in crisis. Supporters held cardboard signs with phrases like “Care not cops” and “Cops can’t heal.”

Kenney’s proposed spending plan for next year includes a $7.3 million boost to the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services for the crisis units.

Councilmembers Helen Gym, Jamie Gauthier, and Kendra Brooks spoke at the rally, with Gym — also considered a contender for mayor — calling it “one of the most important fights in our budget session.”

“We need more,” Brooks told the crowd. “Not more cops. We need more support.”

Staff writers Sean Collins Walsh and Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.