Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker declares public safety emergency

In her first official act since being inaugurated Tuesday, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signed an executive order declaring a citywide public safety emergency and directing the Police Department to develop “comprehensive plans” that address crime across the city.

The order directs new Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel to work with Managing Director Adam Thiel and other city department heads to deliver a plan within 100 days detailing how they will hire more police officers, reduce violent crime, quell quality-of-life offenses, and “permanently shut down all pervasive open-air drug markets.”

And it directs the commissioner to employ “any lawful means necessary to abate the public safety emergency.”

“We are going to expeditiously get every available resource into neighborhoods struggling from scourges of crime, gun violence, drugs, and addiction,” Parker said during her inaugural address Tuesday morning.

Parker, a centrist Democrat, embraced some tough-on-crime tactics and emphasized public safety through more than a year of campaigning. The order Tuesday signaled that she plans to continue prioritizing those issues.

The declaration was one of a trio of executive orders Parker signed Tuesday hours after her formal inauguration. She also signed an order that will make city government “more visible, responsive, and effective in how it delivers services to citizens and constituents,” and another that removes barriers to employment, including some college-degree requirements.

Parker’s signing of an emergency declaration over crime in the city stands in contrast to her predecessor, Mayor Jim Kenney, who resisted making such a declaration despite calls from activists and elected officials to do so. He said such a move would not “demonstrably change conditions in Philadelphia” and wasn’t likely to unlock additional resources for the city to fight crime.

City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who privately and publicly lobbied Kenney to declare an emergency, said in a statement Tuesday that Parker’s move “sends a powerful message that she is ready to tackle our public safety emergency head-on.”

Parker has said for months that although she would declare an emergency, it shouldn’t be seen as a panacea.

“People are very distrustful of government right now,” she said during the order signing in the Mayor’s Office. “And the reason why they’re frustrated is because they hear people say things and give great speeches, but they’re looking for outcomes and tangible ways that they can see, touch, and feel in their own neighborhoods. But for us, we know we can’t do it without a sound plan.”

» READ MORE: Kevin J. Bethel was sworn in as Philadelphia’s newest police commissioner

Former Mayor Michael A. Nutter, who served before Kenney, also signed an executive order declaring a citywide crime emergency on his first day in office. His similarly directed his police commissioner to develop a public safety plan in consultation with other department heads.

Parker’s executive order says the plan developed by her department heads should contain police deployment strategies and a plan to hire more officers trained to engage in “community policing,” which Parker has often described as officers patrolling on foot or bike.

It also says Bethel must report back to Parker within 30 days regarding the progress of mandates in the order, and directs Thiel — along with City Solicitor Renee Garcia — to investigate whether the city should “invoke additional emergency powers” as the administration attempts to address public safety.

The order takes effect immediately and remains in effect for 100 days, after which Parker could choose to extend it.

During a brief news conference after signing the orders, Parker said the city is moving in the right direction to address crime as the number of homicides last year dropped by about 20% from 2022. But the number of killings is still near the highest level in recent city history.

“There’s nothing to celebrate, but we do see that we’re moving in the right direction,” Parker said. “For me, I just want to see a sense of urgency, a much more collaborative effort.”