Circumventing DA Larry Krasner is not the answer to city’s gun woes | Editorial

Gun violence is one of the defining challenges facing Philadelphia, and whoever wants to be the next mayor must have answers on how to ensure public safety. But while there is room for debate on solutions, securing long-term results will require a coordinated effort across city government — no matter how difficult some agencies are to work with.

That includes the office of District Attorney Larry Krasner, who — to the consternation of his critics — has questioned the efficacy of pursuing charges against those who are carrying guns without a permit.

Discussion around Krasner’s role took center stage when mayoral candidate Derek Green released a public safety plan that includes a proposal to bypass Krasner’s office and refer gun cases to federal authorities. Two other candidates, Allan Domb and Jeff Brown, said they would also seek to circumvent Krasner.

Green, a former prosecutor who also served on City Council, believes that the failure to gain convictions for arrests under the Violation of the Uniform Firearm Act is a key driver of gun violence in Philadelphia, a charge that Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and some community leaders have also levied. Convictions on gun cases have mostly declined since Krasner took office in 2018.

» READ MORE: Philly mayoral candidates are proposing ways to ‘circumvent’ DA Larry Krasner

The District Attorney’s Office has traditionally blamed poor case preparation by police officers for the low conviction rate on these offenses. Green told this board that his plan is intended to address this as well, by creating a task force specifically trained on successfully collecting evidence on gun crimes.

The embattled district attorney, who was impeached last year by the Republican-controlled state House, told The Inquirer that any effort to circumvent his authority was an attempt to undo the will of the voters and compared it to the politically motivated impeachment.

“Some of the candidates for mayor are not in touch with Philadelphians,” he said. “This office has never enjoyed more love and support than it enjoys right now.”

That may be the case, but what love and support Krasner has is a result of his focus on restorative justice, not his often abrasive and condescending professional demeanor.

The district attorney is to be commended for his work overturning wrongful convictions and holding abusive cops accountable for misconduct. However, a consistent theme that emerges in conversations on public safety in Philadelphia is, some say, how difficult Krasner makes it for others to work with him.

This tendency was on regrettable display in 2021, when a breakdown in communication between Krasner and Mayor Jim Kenney erupted into an embarrassing public feud.

At the time, this board wrote that “Krasner seems either incapable or unwilling to forge even the kind of rudimentary ties that ease interagency cooperation and foster a spirit of public service. Too often, it seems, Krasner casts what are apparently good-faith policy disagreements as indictments of another party’s character.”

» READ MORE: Conflicts between Kenney and Krasner impede Philadelphia’s response to the gun violence epidemic | Editorial

Sadly, there seems to have been little change on that front.

When contacted by this board, Green deflected Krasner’s allegation that his proposal was politically motivated. Green said the plan was the product of months of research and community engagement; it was also, he said, a way to increase the resources being devoted to public safety.

As a councilmember, Green was known for nuanced proposals for ethics reforms, affordable housing, and incremental tax cuts. He has earned the benefit of the doubt when he says his plan is not ill-considered. But securing needed participation from the U.S. Department of Justice is far from certain, and without buy-in and collaboration from Krasner, any effort will likely have difficulty succeeding.

Ultimately, for the sake of Philadelphia, it is far better for whoever is elected mayor to find a way to partner with the district attorney.

After all, it isn’t politicians who bear the brunt of leadership failures on public safety, it is vulnerable Philadelphians who must live with the everyday reality of gun violence outside their doors.