Philadelphia’s top cop, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, on Thursday, unveiled a new, five-year strategy plan focused on providing public safety for the city.
Though, he said, the final plan is still being developed and public input is still sought for its creation.
Officials said the plan is being developed in response to Mayor Cherelle Parker’s executive order that declared a public safety emergency in Philadelphia — which she signed when unveiling an action plan of her own, last year.
In opening the event, Mayor Parker said that officials are seeing some success in the ongoing fight against crime in the city’s streets.
“Homicides are down dramatically, so are shootings. On our current pace, Philadelphia, we should see the lowest number of homicides and shootings in Philadelphia in over 50 years,” Parker said on Thursday. “But, I want you to know we are not resting. Today marks the next step.”
The plan, she said, will be evidence-bases and, will build on Bethel’s 100-day report, that focuses on causes of — and ways to prevent — gun violence among the city’s youth.
She said the plan includes community police initiatives, pushes to hold individuals who commit crimes accountable and makes sure police officers are deployed through “data-driven strategies.”
“We are here because, ultimately, this plan recognizes that we cannot simply arrest ourselves away from the public safety challenges that we face,” Parker said.
In stepping to the podium during the morning event, Bethel recalled Parker choosing him to serve as police commissioner, noting that he didn’t accept the job until after he say the mayor’s plan for the city.
“What we are about to embark on, in our five-year strategic plan, is really, really rooted in the mayor’s vision then and before she took office, even prior to that,” he said. “And my role, taking that charge now, is to move that forward.”
Also, Bethel said, the voices of the community are being heavily considered in the creation of the plan, because they wanted to ensure perspectives from Philadelphians across the city were part of the process to create a plan the police could follow.
“The voice of the community is central to this plan,” he said, noting input from residents, business owners and other members of the community was involved in the creation of the plan. “Is it policing the community or community policing? That sometimes gets lost in the conversation of how we need to operate and we haven’t really taken the time to stop and say ‘what does it look like?’ And, to get that done, we have to do that together.”
At least 200 people, including community leaders, activists, residents and others, have already been involved in the creation of the plan, said Bethel.
The plan itself is still being developed, Bethel said, and input is still being sought in the creation of the plan.
For more information or to take a survey to provide input on the plan, visit www.phillypolice.com/strategicplan.
This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.
