Mayoral candidate Cherelle Parker praises outgoing Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw despite ‘Monday morning quarterbacks’

Cherelle Parker, who as the Democratic nominee for mayor is likely to pick the next permanent police commissioner, offered strong praise for Danielle Outlaw, who announced Tuesday that she will soon step down as Philadelphia’s top cop after a nearly four-year tenure.

“While there will be many Monday morning quarterbacks second guessing her performance and decision-making, I have nothing but a great deal of respect and admiration for the job that she has done for our city,” Parker said in a statement. “We should remember her name because I know we will be hearing about her distinguished work in whatever capacity she chooses in the future — that is one thing I know for sure.”

Parker’s comments are notable for being unqualifiedly positive despite Outlaw’s rocky time in office. Mayor Jim Kenney selected Outlaw, the former Portland, Ore., police commissioner, to take the same job in Philadelphia months before the city was beset by the coronavirus pandemic, the civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd, and the record-setting number of shootings and homicides that followed those crises.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw resigns her post for another position

The police department’s handling of those emergencies has been criticized, but Parker pushed back on those casting blame on Outlaw.

“Much like being the Mayor of Philadelphia, Police Commissioners are in a class of their own,” Parker said. “And as it relates to our great city, there is no police commissioner who has ever dealt with the tornado of black swan events that Commissioner Outlaw was forced to reckon with during her tenure.”

Outlaw, who was the first woman to lead the department on a permanent basis, is set to resign Sept. 22, with First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford taking over on an interim basis.

Parker is widely expected to prevail over Republican David Oh in the Nov. 7 general election, thanks to Philadelphia’s overwhelmingly Democratic electorate. She would then take office in January.

Incoming mayors typically choose their own police commissioners rather than keep the previous administration’s top cop on board. Kenney and former Mayor Michael A. Nutter each announced their picks in the window between the general election and their inaugurations.

Police commissioners are perhaps the most recognizable city official outside of the mayor, and perceptions about their performance go a long way in determining whether administrations are seen as successful.

“If we are fortunate enough to get through the general election, this position along with many others, will be part of a search looking in Philadelphia and across the country to ensure that we have the best and the brightest helping to lead our city,” said Aren Platt, a senior adviser for Parker.

Oh did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other politicians commenting in the wake of Outlaw’s announcement ran the gamut from laudatory to conspicuously anodyne.

City Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson thanked Outlaw “for her leadership and commitment to protecting and serving” Philadelphians.

“As the first Black woman to serve as commissioner in the department’s 226-year history, I’m sure that stepping into this role in the midst of so many unprecedented challenges was no easy feat,” Gilmore Richardson said in a statement. “However, she did so with the utmost grace.”

District Attorney Larry Krasner, meanwhile, issued a statement that was notably silent about Outlaw’s tenure.

“I join others in wishing Police Commissioner Outlaw well in her next chapter,” Krasner said. “Incidents of gun violence and other violent crime continue to decrease since the pandemic peak, thankfully, and it is critical that the City of Philadelphia seize this moment to get ahead of violent crime.”

Krasner, a progressive prosecutor whose office has regularly charged officers in cases of alleged misconduct and systematically reviewed past cases to uncover wrongful convictions, added that the next mayoral administration “must also recommit to integrity, transparency, and accountability.”

» READ MORE: Who is Danielle Outlaw, who is resigning as Philadelphia police commissioner later this month?

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who represents the West Philadelphia-based 3rd District, has clashed with the Kenney administration over what she saw as an insufficiently aggressive response to the city’s gun-violence crisis. She said Tuesday that she has come to appreciate Outlaw’s leadership but is also looking forward to a new chapter for the police department.

“I’ve come to really like the commissioner, but I also feel like she had a really tough time,” Gauthier said in an interview. “It’s been a time of just crisis on crisis in Philadelphia, on top of everything with the department that we’ve been aiming to change and improve for a really long time.”

Gauthier said she is “excited for what Cherelle Parker is going to bring” and hopes that the next mayor names a commissioner who is familiar with the department, rather than an outsider.

“This is a critical juncture in the city’s history,” Gauthier said. “For this moment that we’re in, I feel like we need somebody who knows the city, who knows these neighborhoods, and who knows the police department.”

Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, who is running for Council president, went a step further and said the next mayor should “strongly consider” retaining Stanford’s services on a permanent basis.

“He joined the Philadelphia Police Department in 2002 and has worked his way up the ranks and has excelled in every position he has held,” Johnson said in a statement.

Staff writers Anna Orso and Oona Goodin-Smith contributed to this article, which has been updated to clarify Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson’s response. The Council member urged the next mayor to “strongly consider” keeping First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford as Danielle Outlaw’s successor.