Where's the Backlash? Radical Policies in Philadelphia Result in Most Murders in City's 340 Year History

 

Last year was the deadliest year in Philadelphia’s 340-year history. In 2021, 562 people were murdered in the city of brotherly love, 63 more than the 499 killed in 2020, the year that tied the record set in the notorious “crack explosion” era of 1990. While these homicides were a daily staple of local broadcast and print news, what is notably absent from coverage and official pressers was any sense of accountability by the political leaders charged with keeping us safe.

The lack of any use of a bully pulpit or adult responsibility for this deadly toll has placed a bright light on the ineptitude of our state and local government and the dangerous agenda of outside political donors. The vast majority of the city’s record number of murder victims were black and brown, a harsh reality that contrasts with the “woke” agendas of the city’s white Mayor, District Attorney, Governor, and Attorney General. All of these men rejected proven criminal justice policies despite the surge of death and despair impacting the communities they claim to represent. 

Historically, the bully pulpit serves as a vital tool used by public officials to uphold their duty of care for their constituents, despite any limitations that may exist due to their scope of office. Through the bully pulpit, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney should have ordered his appointed Police Commissioner to increase police activity in the areas hit hardest by violent crime. Both the Mayor and City Council have a responsibility to speak out against the dangerous policies of District Attorney Larry Krasner, whose office has drastically reduced charging, pre-trial detention requests, and convictions, all of which play a major role in the city’s rising violent crime.

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Aspects of this case seem like a window into the current-day policies of Krasner and newly elected Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, both of whom received questionable campaign finance from billionaire George Soros. Currently, like Komar case, progressive DAs in cities like New York and Philadelphia are not asking for bail or enforcing sentencing guidelines for suspects arrested multiple times for drug dealing, robbery, theft, and illegal weapons offenses, leaving local judges out on a limb to pursue penalties that protect the public. What set the Komar case apart in 1996 was how the Mayor and Governor used their respective bully pulpits to send a clear message to a criminal justice community that failed to do its duty. 

When the gruesome facts of the case emerged in 1996, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appeared at the crime scene, having been briefed on Oliver’s history of run-ins with law enforcement. Over the next few weeks, both Giuliani and Governor George Pataki made their case for the removal of Judge Duckman, even though the New York State unified court system is outside the management authority of the Governor or Mayor. This pressure led to Pataki’s formation of a commission and the removal of Duckman, marking the first time a New York State Governor removed a sitting judge since 1872.

Duckman’s removal sent a message to those who had governed the administration of justice through the lenses of their political beliefs – that their duty of care is toward law-abiding citizens and the victims of crime first. Failing to protect them comes with consequences. 

In Philadelphia, police and district attorney’s office sources shared court documents with reporters from Broad + Liberty, Fox 29, BigTrial.net, and the Philadelphia Weekly showing that many murder suspects were currently on bail or released on plead-down charges by Krasner’s office. There was little to no outrage from City Hall. When crime in New York skyrocketed following the passage of reckless bail reform and police use of force laws, there was also no outrage voiced by the de Blasio administration. This absence of political fortitude may be explained by the lack of bipartisan checks and balances in New York and Philadelphia. Furthermore, the egregious amount of outside super-PAC money that has flowed into local prosecutor elections from George Soros and Silicon Valley billionaires presents a threat to the reelection hopes of moderate Democrats if they speak up. 

If Galena Komar’s murder was enough to change the way domestic cases are prosecuted in New York, why haven’t the senseless murders in Philadelphia prompted political backlash here? It’s hard to imagine Ed Rendell or Michael Nutter staying silent as the media covers murders like Temple University students Milan Loncar and Sam Collington, pregnant mother Jessica Covington, security guard Nassir Day, or mall shopper Dominic Billa. A 10-year old girl shot and killed by her uncle, Tyree Miles — a career criminal who was playing with an illegal weapon — was one of more than 60 homicide victims in Philadelphia last year who were just seventeen years old or younger.

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