With a new gun investigations unit, could Larry Krasner be changing his tune on prosecutions?

It’s been quite a spring for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and his softy-soft approach to handling violent crime.

First, there was Krasner’s announcement about a new “prolific gun offenders” unit, which would — finally — do more to prosecute the gun crimes he has been so reluctant to pursue.

Then, there was the so-called People’s Press Conference — which was convened by Krasner’s office to offer a defense of his do-nothing policies. Finally, there was a scathing and revealing House Judiciary Committee field hearing in Center City about the widespread dissatisfaction among residents with Krasner’s approach (or non-approach) to criminal prosecutions.

The sad truth of the matter is that Philadelphia has a “faux” district attorney, a prosecutor in name only who seems focused only on advancing a far-left agenda that he bills as “criminal justice reform” for the sake of public safety.

While I don’t know if Krasner is going to suddenly morph from “Let ‘Em Go Larry” to “Lock ‘Em Up Larry,” I’m somewhat hopeful that the recent House Judiciary Committee hearing might compel Krasner and other progressive district attorneys to start really doing their jobs. Maybe, just maybe, the new gun unit is an indication Krasner is feeling the pressure to rethink some of his policies.

Maybe.

The Republican nominee for attorney general, Dave Sunday, told The Inquirer that one of the factors that motivated him to enter the race to become the commonwealth’s top prosecutor is the pervasiveness of gun crimes in the state.

Sunday noted that it’s both a federal and a state crime for those convicted of felonies to possess a gun. Sunday said these are fairly straightforward cases to pursue in court, but Krasner has been reluctant to prosecute them.

In April, Krasner’s announcement about the gun unit came just five days after a shooting at a celebration marking the end of Ramadan. Three people were wounded; five people — four of them juveniles — have been arrested and charged with various offenses.

The announcement about the new gun team made me go hmm. Why? Because in the “100 Shooting Review Committee Report” released in 2022, Krasner said, “We do not believe that arresting people and convicting them for illegal gun possession is a viable strategy to reduce shootings.” But the stated purpose of the new gun unit is to “focus on adults and juveniles who repeatedly and illegally possess firearms in the city of Philadelphia.” Is this a change in Krasner’s focus?

It’s worth pointing out that during his announcement about the new gun unit, Let ‘Em Go Larry didn’t mention his earlier statement about “viable strategy” in the shooting review report. I didn’t see many mainstream news reports reference it, either.

Also, Krasner has repeatedly acknowledged that the number of homicides in the city is down sharply, by 40% so far this year when compared with the same time in 2023. So why do we need the new gun unit?

Could it be that after the horrifying shooting at the Ramadan event, Krasner wanted the public to see that he was doing something about prosecuting cases? Or maybe it’s because Philadelphians of all backgrounds are crying out in recent polls for elected officials to do something — anything — about crime?

Just as jarring as Krasner’s apparent about-face on shootings was his insensitive description of the House field hearing — which focused on the victims of violent crime — as a “dog and pony show.” The testimony of grieving families whose loved ones were murdered is a “dog and pony show”?

But let’s focus on the accounts of some of the witnesses who spoke, including Terri O’Connor, widow of Philadelphia Police Cpl. Jim O’Connor. Her husband was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2020 while serving an arrest for a man wanted in a homicide.

O’Connor told the Judiciary Committee that her husband’s accused killer was a repeat offender who had been arrested in earlier incidents — only to be released back onto the streets by the district attorney’s office.

“We have a district attorney who says crime is down. Well, obviously, if you don’t prosecute criminals, of course, it appears that way,” O’Connor said during the hearing at the William J. Green Federal Building.

Noting the rise in retail theft in the city — a crime Krasner’s office won’t prosecute as long as the items stolen are valued at less than $500 — U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said Krasner had presided over historic levels of homicide in the city, including a record 562 killings in 2021.

“Manhattan, Chicago, Washington, and Philadelphia have violent crime problems,” said Jordan. “But this is not the only thing they have in common. They all have soft-on-crime prosecutors who favor the criminals over the victims and their families.”

Philadelphia has a “faux” district attorney, a prosecutor in name only.

Among those who also testified at the Philadelphia hearing were Joel and Pauline Fitzgerald, the parents of Temple University Police Sgt. Christopher Fitzgerald, who was killed in the line of duty in February 2023.

“The only way to enforce these murders of police officers is to enforce our laws,” Pauline Fitzgerald told the committee.

The most heartbreaking portion of the Fitzgeralds’ testimony was when they stated that criminals in Philadelphia know Krasner gives them a free pass.

I wonder if Krasner continues to act this way in the hopes that, come election time, super-lenient voters will give him one.

We can only hope not.

A prosecutor in name only who accuses those who try to get him to do his job of being “antidemocratic” and “authoritarian” doesn’t deserve a free pass to avoid aggressive scrutiny of his own actions.

After all, what’s more antidemocratic than ignoring the pleas of crime-weary Philadelphians and abetting unchecked lawlessness?

Larry Miller is a former police reporter for the Philadelphia Tribune. He is a lifelong resident of Philadelphia.