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Last Updated on July 6, 2022
Philadelphia City Council members have called for refocused approaches from law enforcement in the wake of a shooting that sent thousands of people running during a July 4 fireworks display. One council member has even stated that the re-introduction of stop-and-frisk is on the table. The city has endured a massive spike in violent crime since 2019.
“Now is not the time to bury our heads in the sand,” said Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson.
Philadelphia leaders — mostly Democrats — appear to be growing tired of Mayor Jim Kenney, also a Democrat, and Soros-backed District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Both Kenney and Krasner have championed leftist “police reform” policies that have led to a massive decrease in gun crime convictions. Krasner’s introduction of “bail reform” policies has also put numerous violent criminals back on the street who have gone on to kill.
Mayor Kenney’s comments in the immediate aftermath of the shooting — where he said he was looking forward to a stress free, post-mayoral life — have led to calls for his resignation.
“I’m concerned every single day. There’s not an event or a day where I don’t lay on my back at night look at the ceiling and worry about stuff,” Kenney told reporters. “So everything we have had in the city over the last seven years, I worry about. I don’t enjoy the Fourth of July. I didn’t enjoy the Democratic National Convention. I didn’t enjoy the NFL Draft.”
“I’m waiting for something bad to happen all the time. I’ll be happy when I’m not mayor and I can enjoy some stuff,” Kenney continued.
Councilmember Cherelle Parker said she immediately called Kenney that night in order to let him know that his comments were “asinine” and that Philadelphians deserved more. “They don’t want us to say that we’re throwing up our hands, that we can’t do anything. We don’t have the luxury to do that,” Parker said.
Kenney later issued a follow-up statement in which he apologized for the tone of his comments. “In a late-night, overwhelming moment of frustration, I said I was looking forward to no longer being mayor. Let me be clear, I’m incredibly grateful to be mayor of this great city and for the people who elected me to lead,” Kenney said in a written statement.
But city leaders are no longer satisfied and are demanding changes to the city’s policing tactics mandated by Kenney and Krasner. During a news conference Tuesday afternoon, city council members called for more police support, increased drone and surveillance technology and legal stop and frisk interactions, ABC 6 Philadelphia reported.
“That’s a conversation that we’re going to have to have. You can’t have an environment where everyone is carrying an illegal gun,” said Council President Darrell Clarke.
From our presser earlier today via @6abc:
It’s crystal clear from events here and all over the country, more guns do NOT make us safer.
On the contrary, they’ve created an environment where no one feels safe at ANY public gathering. pic.twitter.com/2pJe9vRtsc
— Darrell Clarke (@Darrell_Clarke) July 5, 2022
The banning of “stop-and-frisk” policies were an early target for leftist “police reform” activists. Such policies allow officers to search suspects who are believed to be carrying illegal weapons. Kenney campaigned on ending such policies.
Leftist activists have long opposed such policies, arguing that they unfairly target minorities.
