November 22, 2023
Source/6ABC
Kevin Bethel will serve as the next Philadelphia police commissioner following his appointment Wednesday by Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker.
Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker appointed Kevin Bethel to become Philadelphia's next police commissioner on Wednesday morning, marking her first major staff pick after her election victory earlier this month.
Bethel, 60, currently serves as the chief of school safety for the School District of Philadelphia. Before joining the city's school system, he spent 29 years rising through the ranks of the Philadelphia Police Department. He previously served as deputy commissioner under Charles Ramsey, who played a key role in helping Parker pick Bethel for the job.
"The challenges that our city faces are significant. But they are solvable," Bethel said at a press conference Wednesday morning. "Experience has taught me that the right strategy, the right tactics and solid solutions will deliver a safe city. I'll make our police department the best police department in the nation. That is our goal — to be the safest city in the United States of America and the best police department."
Parker touted Bethel's deep knowledge of Philadelphia and his extensive background in policing. She said his ability to bring "chemistry" to his relationships with the mayor's office, the district attorney's office and other law enforcement partners was a crucial factor in his selection.
"We believe that our next commissioner will lead our department into a new day and a new era of public safety and community engagement," Parker said. "The promise of safety comes from the ground up, and while the promise is simple, we're real clear that the lift is heavy. And we can't do it alone. I want you to know that over the last 24 hours, Kevin and I have been meeting with stakeholders who are committed to the success of our city."
Bethel said his main focus for the department will be to instill a crime-fighting mindset based on data-driven enforcement. He also aims to foster a better relationship with the public by rebuilding trust between police and the communities they serve.
"We're not your enemy," Bethel said. "We're here to serve. We have our issues, and we can address them ... I ask that you to give us the opportunity to do that."
Bethel's appointment comes at a challenging moment for the city's 5,500-member police force. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Philadelphia has seen historic increases in homicides, shootings and carjackings despite an overall downward trend in other crimes. In the city's Kensington neighborhood, longstanding problems with drug addiction and homelessness have drawn national attention without significant progress made toward long-term solutions. The police department also has struggled with recruiting and low morale in recent years.
Bethel said his time working with youth and leaders at Philadelphia schools taught him valuable lessons about the pervasive "fear of crime" and gun violence impacting life in the city. He said he believes the police department and other local leaders will be equipped to deal with crime by following Parker's promise of a collaborative approach to government.
Ramsey, who served as the city's police commissioner from 2008-2016, said Wednesday that he first recognized Bethel's talent while observing his work as captain of the 17th District in South Philadelphia.
"That's when I had a chance to really see, in action, the kinds of things he was doing — the innovation that he was bringing forward in the juvenile enforcement team and various other things that he was doing at that particular time that caught my attention."
Bethel left the Philadelphia Police Department in 2015 to work in the juvenile justice system. He served as a fellow at the Stoneleigh Foundation working with Drexel University's Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab. He was named head of safety at the School District of Philadelphia in 2019.
Ramsey said promoting Bethel to deputy commissioner was one of the best decisions he had made during his tenure. He credited Bethel with developing a nationally recognized model for diverting young people from jail through programs aimed at addressing underlying causes of behavioral issues.
Parker, who will become Philadelphia's 100th mayor in January, spent much of her campaign talking about the need to improve public safety.
She has called for revisiting controversial stop-and-frisk policies that fell out of favor in many police departments due to concerns about racial bias. She's suggested giving police more power to use Terry stops, which allow officers to briefly detain and pat down people for weapons if they have reasonable suspicion someone is armed and likely to commit a crime.
Parker declined Wednesday to have Bethel answer questions about how the police department may use Terry stops. She said Bethel will develop a comprehensive public safety plan for the city.
"I want to be absolutely clear that we will not take any legal, constitutional tool away from our police department or any stakeholders to make Philadelphia the safest big city in the nation," Parker said.
Parker also called for enhancing the department's recruitment efforts and placing more patrol officers on city streets to engage with community members. Bethel said Wednesday that the police department has to restore the appeal of the job. He also said he will evaluate the makeup of his staff and where police resources will need to be shifted and concentrated to fight crime.
"At the end of the day, the service to the people at the point of the arrow is where most of our resources will be," Bethel said.
In January, Bethel will take over for interim Police Commissioner John Stanford, who stepped in after former Commissioner Danielle Outlaw resigned in September to take another job. Outlaw's tenure in Philadelphia was often turbulent. Under her leadership, the police department faced heavy criticism for its response to the social unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. That summer, Outlaw issued a public apology for using tear gas against protesters on I-676 and in West Philadelphia.
In March, the city reached a $9.25 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit filed by nearly 350 people who alleged physical and mental harm at the hands of police during protests that summer. An independent audit determined the city and the police department "were simply not prepared" to handle the widespread unrest in the midst of a public health crisis.
More recently, the department came under scrutiny for its handling of the investigation of the police shooting of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry. Irizarry was shot in his car during a traffic stop in August. Preliminary details police shared about the circumstances of the shooting were determined to be incorrect, prompting Outlaw to publicly clarify the department's mistake. The officer who fatally shot Irizarry is now facing murder charges.
Outlaw's predecessor, Richard Ross, resigned in 2019 amid allegations of sexual harassment and racial and gender discrimination within the department. Ross was part of the interview process alongside Ramsey that resulted in Bethel's selection as police commissioner, Parker said Wednesday.
Bethel commended Stanford on his work as interim commissioner over the past few months.
"John is somebody who I have very much confidence in being part of my administration moving forward, and we'll talk about that at a later time, but let's just put that on the record," Bethel said.
Bethel's appointment also comes amid leadership change in the city's influential police union, where Roosevelt Poplar recently replaced John McNesby as the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5. Poplar said Wednesday he's prepared to work with Bethel, Parker and others in government to represent his officers.
"I have given them my solemn oath that I'm going to work with them at every step to make this a better city," Poplar said.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner welcomed Bethel's appointment and said he's hopeful city leaders can collectively reach their goals to reduce crime, solve more cases, make the court system more efficient and ensure police accountability.
"Kevin Bethel brings strong credentials – and promise – to the post of police commissioner," Krasner said. "I look forward to working with him on new and creative approaches that will make Philadelphia thrive. .
Ahead of Wednesday's press conference, Bethel and Parker sat down for an interview with 6ABC to talk about their plans moving forward.
"We have a phenomenal Philadelphia Police Department, but we really have to reset to get back to being crime fighters," Bethel said. "That is what we are built to do."
