The city of Philadelphia is going to stop putting certain criminals behind bars effective immediately, officials announced this week.
The move comes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of incarcerating individuals caught breaking the law, cops are instructed to give offenders a citation and then let them go provided they don’t appear to be a threat to public safety.
Per Fox29, crimes for which there will be a cite-and-set-free approach include:
- All narcotics offenses
- Theft from persons
- Retail theft
- Theft from auto
- Burglary
- Vandalism
- All bench warrants
- Stolen auto
- Economic crimes
- Prostitution
Clarification of PPD’s temporary response model in light of Covid-19 pic.twitter.com/8eMiUb17qD
— Danielle M. Outlaw (@PPDCommish) March 18, 2020
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw assured residents that despite the new protocols, the department is “not turning a blind eye to crime.”
“This temporary response model was implemented to protect our officers, and the communities we serve, from becoming infected or spreading COVID-19,” Commissioner Outlaw said in a statement. “Additionally, these protocols allow us to adjust to the changing availability of resources within other areas of the criminal justice system.”
“To reiterate, criminal offenders will be held accountable for the crimes they commit,” she concluded.
John McNesby, the president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5, supported the decision.
“We are supportive of Commissioner Outlaw’s directive on making arrests during the Coronavirus crisis,” said McNesby. “The directive was released to keep officers safe during this public-health crisis. Meanwhile, violent offenders will be arrested and processed with the guidance of a police supervisor.”
Hard not to see how this doesn’t backfire in a big, big way. Consider the Broken Windows Theory, which posits that when urban municipalities are lax on stopping petty crime it fosters an environment where more serious crime spreads. That’s exactly what Philly is setting itself up for.
When the truly bad eggs see prostitutes, looters and drug addicts hanging out on the corner and operating with what amounts to impunity — they’re not being put behind bars — it’s signal that no one cares anymore, or no one is policing the area to a degree that matters, and it sends a signal that it’s basically a free-for-all to do whatever to whoever. Not good.
Combine that with the fact that Philly is rather restrictive when it comes to issuing pistol permits and, therefore, probably has a lot of unarmed citizens and you have a situation that can get out of hand very, very quickly.
I mean, it’s easy to do the math: Resources are stretched thin due to pandemic + police aren’t incarcerating offenders + public is largely unarmed and defenseless = a field day for bad guys.
It only gets worse from there. As crime skyrockets, politicians panic and invoke martial law. Citizens’ rights are targeted and the confiscation of any and all firearms begins… and then folks we’re well on our way to tyranny. But hey, hopefully, it doesn’t come to that. Not in Philly, not anywhere. Fingers crossed.
WOW! I can move to Philly and eat free, get free gas, free clothes, free pharmacy, and the list goes on! I’m packing my bags (I’ll get free ones in Philly, as soon as I get down town). I’ll just keep my citations and wee how many I can collect. What an opportunity! Gee, thanks Mayor and Police chief. I’ll target their homes and cars first. I bet they are nicer than mine. Philly or bust!
I worked as a federal law enforcement officer in the city of Brotherly Shove for almost 25 years and I know exactly how stupid and corrupt people and I even know the current police commissioner Dani is a good person but she has to deal with Jim Kenny a total waste of air. I don’t want to be mean but Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolfe has his own facebook page “Tom Wolf Pennsylvania’s asshole” so you now know how much he loved and respected he is.
Now THIS sounds like a truly Libtard move. You’ve got Mayors and Governors trying to interfere with lawful purchase or possession of firearms, while another Libtard is releasing prisoners, now Philly is doing the “catch and release” program. So, let me get this right; reduced (or infringed, if you prefer) Rights for the law abiding and increased Rights for the criminals. Yup, gotta be a Libtard to justify this in your mind. Let’s do everything we can to make this situation WORSE.
So, the criminals have free reign now to steel at will?
Filthadelphia? Ah What’s new. 😉
Prostitution? Yeah I’m sure there’s no risk of spreading g the virus there. LMAO
So, if you’ve been reading the news, the sex worker industry has been decimated because patrons understand the risk of spreading the virus. Next time, stick your guns and well…stick to guns.
This is why they’re called “Yankees.”
Stay the hell out of Texas.
Since the police have less to do perhaps their pay should now be reduced.
Not turning a blind eye? Cops might as well stay home. These morons just gave permission to criminals to do whatever they please. And just to make it fair, disarm their potential victims at the same time.
We can see that liberal policies are the demise of a once great nation.
Having the police force stay home is probably the dumbest thing I’ve heard today, but hey, it’s still early.
Officers still need to police and make arrests per usual. If anything they have more to do because on top of making arrests, they have to process minor offenses on the spot before releasing as opposed to taking them to the precinct and having someone else process them. Additionally, they also have to begin to enforce the statewide non-essential business shutdown that our governor has enacted. And the reason why they’re not bringing these minor offenders in is because the jails are not configured appropriately for quarantine and they pose more of a risk to spread coronovirus since these offender would be in close proximity to each other and will most likely be released before showing symptoms thus increasing the odds of it being spread.
These criminals don’t get off scott-free either. Eventually they will be served with arrents for their arrest at a time when it’s deemed safe and appropriate based on the status of the coronavirus epidemic.
The article does a great job talking about what’s happening and speculating the ripple effect of it, but they don’t say anything about why the chief of police has made this decision. Fortunately, it does include the full statement which i recommend reading because this article only touches on the fearmongering aspects of that statement, not the fact that shifts will be increased and plain clothes officers will now have more patrol duties. It’s all there in the statement, but nowhere to be found in the article. Biased reporting at it’s finest.
Spoken like a true brain dead libtard.
The comment about Philly be rather restrictive issuing carry permits isn’ t really true anymore. They have increased the opportunity to obtain carry permits, and a lot of citizens who couldn’t or didn’t have one are now carrying legally.