By Irv Randolph
City Council is limited on what it can do to address crime.
Mayor Jim Kenney and District Attorney Larry Krasner are the two elected officials with the power and direct responsibility for making the city safe.
Unlike the mayor, Council members have no control over the police force and whether officers are deterring crime and making arrests.
Unlike the district attorney, Council members have no control on whether prosecutors are effectively prosecuting criminal suspects.
As the legislative branch of local government, Council can appropriate money and apply pressure on the mayor, police commissioner, district attorney and others who are more directly responsible for addressing crime and public safety.
Council has passed dozens of laws regarding public safety, but the mayor and the district attorney have the executive power to execute policies, deploy personnel and allocate resources to combat crime.
City Council held a hearing last week that attempted to hold Krasner accountable for prosecutions on shoplifting and other crimes.
Several City Council members told Krasner that there is a perception among store employees and even criminals that Philadelphia will not enforce retail thefts involving less than $500 worth of merchandise.
The perception that thieves do not face consequences dominated the budget hearing that featured some tense exchanges between Krasner and Council members.
“If someone is suggesting to you we don’t prosecute below 500 bucks, that’s flatly untrue,” Krasner said during the virtual meeting.
Krasner issued a policy change in 2018 that downgrades retail thefts under $500 to be treated as summary offenses, minor charges that are typically handled by a police officer writing a ticket.
Considering the city’s violent crime and drug epidemic, focusing on shoplifting could appear as a minor concern.
But out-of-control retail theft leads to stores moving out of neighborhoods. Less business means less goods and services for neighborhoods, fewer jobs usually in neighborhoods that are already economically depressed. Eventually this also leads to less tax revenue to pay for other city services.
Councilmember Jimmy Harrity said rising rates of shoplifting have caused national chains to leave his neighborhood.
“I don’t think you’re getting the severity of what’s going on in my neighborhood,” he said. “We have no stores. There’s no place for us to shop because of this stuff going on.”
During the hearing, Krasner was also questioned about general lawlessness in the city by Councilmember Cindy Bass.
“To me, it feels as if there is not the level of prosecution and support that the citizens of Philadelphia need coming out of your office,” she said.
Krasner dismissed the comment with “it’s an election season.” Bass rightly responded that electoral politics was irrelevant to the conversation.
Krasner has used this tactic before to deflect criticism. He either accuses critics of being political or pushing the agenda of conservative Republicans. His response is deeply offensive. Councilmembers are right to question whether his policies and practices essentially decriminalized retail theft in Philadelphia.
He should expect to be challenged on whether his office is vigorously prosecuting enough retail theft, gun violations and other crimes.
According to police, about 75% of retail theft arrests were downgraded by the District Attorney’s Office to summary offenses, and the same few dozen people are reoffending.
While Krasner should receive credit for pursing police misconduct and enacting criminal justice reforms, there are serious questions on whether his policies and practices are overly lenient toward criminals — many of whom are repeat offenders.
Krasner spent decades as a successful criminal and civil rights defense attorney before becoming district attorney in 2018. After his second term in office, his approach is still more like a defense attorney instead of a prosecutor.
Some past and current mayoral candidates are proposing to circumvent Krasner by diverting cases to federal prosecutors.
“We need to bring back the certainty of punishment in the city of Philadelphia,” former councilmember, prosecutor and mayoral candidate Derrick Green said in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Councilmembers must challenge the mayor and the district attorney after two consecutive years of 500-plus homicides, hundreds of nonfatal shootings and high rates of carjacking and rapes.
In 2022, the city recorded 516 homicides, double the 248 homicides in 2014.
All policies and practices must be reexamined. The current approach is not working.
“We’ve got to figure this out, and that means all of us,” said Council President Darrell Clarke. “This issue is real.”
He added: “It is not at the level of gun violence and homicide, but when you take away services in the neighborhood, you cause people to leave that neighborhood and that neighborhood starts to decline because people are leaving.”
