False arrests caught on video | Morning Newsletter
And Trump comes to the Shore.
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The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Happy Hump Day. We may see some showers this morning before sun later on, plus high temps near 85.
Our top story today comes from The Inquirer’s investigations team: Philly cops secretly used surveillance cameras in drug busts. The video proved their testimony false.
And Wildwood’s mayor is opening up the beach to former President Donald Trump for a big rally on Saturday. Residents can rest assured, he said: “No one’s burning anything down here.”
Let’s dig into these stories and many more.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Narcotics investigations are a high-tech enterprise nowadays. In Philadelphia, police are using 4K-resolution, 360-degree cameras — 7,000 of them throughout the city — that can be controlled via smartphone apps.
But the use of that technology is fraught.
An Inquirer report on how Philly narcotics cops used these cameras found that not only did officers on a squad of the Narcotics Strike Force not disclose their use of video surveillance to prosecutors, but some video recordings directly contradicted what officers claimed to have seen.
Scores of charges have been dropped amid ongoing investigations by the police and public defender’s office.
It’s an eye-opening report that both shows the scale of video surveillance use by local law enforcement, and raises questions about Philadelphians’ privacy rights. Read reporter Samantha Melamed’s full investigation here, and five big takeaways from the report here.
Six months before the high-stakes general election, former President Donald Trump is spending his Saturday at the Jersey Shore by way of a sure-to-be boisterous campaign rally.
🌊 Why Wildwood? For one, it’s a red enclave in a blue state, and not too far from purple Pennsylvania.
🌊 Mayor Ernie Troiano is also a fan, and suggested the beach venue that can hold 30,000 people to the Trump campaign. Plus, there’s the economic boost it’s expected to bring.
🌊 “Take the politics out of it and people would bend over backward for this number of people to come to their town,” Troiano, who is a Republican, told The Inquirer.
Politics reporter Julia Terruso explains how this weekend’s big event — a sequel to a packed 2020 rally held at the Wildwood Convention Center — came to be, and why two Wildwood mayors are under indictment at the same time as the former president.
What you should know today
University of Pennsylvania leaders and pro-Palestinian encampment protesters held a third meeting to discuss the group’s demands: “It felt like we were making progress,” one student organizer said.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration wants to open at least three “triage and wellness centers” for people in addiction as part of a $100 million plan to expand drug treatment options in the city.
During a Kensington town hall on Tuesday evening, Parker acknowledged that the rollout of her strategy to dismantle the entrenched open-air drug market in the neighborhood won’t be perfect, likening the effort to “building the plane while I’m flying it.”
Amid criticism from charter advocates, an audit by the state’s auditor general determined that Philly’s Charter Schools Office followed a fair process when it recommended the district reject applications to open new charters.
Advocates say Pennsylvania should expand funding for a student teacher stipend program to combat a shrinking supply of new teachers.
Republican leaders want to investigate how Philadelphia law enforcement bungled a now-withdrawn arrest warrant for State Rep. Kevin Boyle just days before April’s primary election.
The local branch of the NAACP formally endorsed the Sixers’ plans to build a $1.55 billion downtown arena.
🧠 Trivia time
Which Black Philadelphian created the principles that guided companies worldwide doing business in apartheid-era South Africa?
A) Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander
B) Leon Higginbotham Jr.
C) Cecil B. Moore
D) Rev. Leon H. Sullivan
Think you know? Check your answer.
What (and who) we’re...
🎷 Congratulating: The Montco-based winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in music.
🍎 Cheering: Annie Gadson, aka “Grandmom,” just named Philly’s best substitute teacher.
🐑 Craving: Mansaf and maklouba from the forthcoming Rittenhouse restaurant Ayat.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Susan C. Aldridge is the new permanent president of this Philly university named for a Founding Father.
EFFORT HAMS JONES
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Enid Krasner, who solved Tuesday’s anagram: Philly AIDS Thrift. The eclectic Queen Village thrift store distributes sales proceeds of donated items as grants to organizations involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Psst: It’s one of 10 places in the Philly area where you can donate your books, too.
Photo of the day
Have you seen this 250-pound fiberglass cowboy boot stationed in the Italian Market? Columnist Stephanie Farr has the story behind the boot, and the man who put it there: Viejo Oeste Western Wear #2 owner Alfonso Aramburo.
Wishing you an easy Wednesday. See you tomorrow!
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