Kevin Bethel, the current chief of school safety for the School District of Philadelphia, will be the city’s next police commissioner.
By Denise Clay-Murray
ABOVE PHOTO: Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker (speaking at podium) introduces the new police commissioner Kevin Bethel (on her right) at last week’s press conference surrounded by city officials and politicians that included, from left, Ryan Boyer, Business Manager of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, Rep. Joanna McClinton (D-191st Dist), House Speaker; Rep. Donna Bullock (D-195th Dist.), former Phila. police commissioner Charles Ramsey, and Cong. Dwight Evans (D-PA 3rd Dist.).
Photo by Denise Clay-Murray
Over the last two mayoral administrations, the first personnel decision made by the mayor-elect has been hiring a new police commissioner.
Last Wednesday, Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker continued that tradition when she announced that Kevin Bethel, the chief of school safety for the School District of Philadelphia, would be the city’s next top cop.
During her campaign for mayor, Parker said that her police commissioner would be someone who was not only excellent but “wouldn’t need a GPS to find 52nd Street.” The group of candidates that vied for the job had those things in common, she said.
But in the end, Bethel’s ability to communicate with both her and his most important stakeholders made him the obvious choice, Parker said.
“The police commissioner, while he or she must have the credentials, must also have chemistry, not just with mayor, but with the men and women that make up the police department,” Parker said. “All of the candidates were exceptional candidates, but at the end of this process, I think we arrived at an exceptional candidate to lead the department into a new day and a new era of community engagement.”
Philadelphia’s new ‘top cop’ Kevin Bethel addresses the audience at last week’s press conference. Photo by Denise Clay-Murray
Toward that end, Bethel pledged to use an intergovernmental approach to doing the fundamental work of keeping Philadelphians safe while gaining the community’s trust.
“I’m a proud Philly cop,” Bethel said. “I’m proud to be a cop. But we’re not your enemy. We’re here to serve and I ask you to give us the opportunity.”
But would that opportunity include the controversial policing technique of stop and frisk? During her campaign, Parker made it a central part of her campaign pledge for public safety, but when Bethel was asked about whether or not it would be included in his crime-fighting plans, Parker cut the conversation short.
“I will not allow on this day for us to be taken down that rabbit hole,” she said. “I’m the mayor of the City of Philadelphia come January 2nd. The police commissioner will develop a comprehensive public safety plan for the City of Philadelphia. I have publicly affirmed, and 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.”
Among those present at the announcement was Roosevelt Poplar, the new president of the Fraternal Order of Police. Poplar succeeded John McNesby, the bombastic longtime president of the police union, earlier this month.
When asked about whether he and Poplar would be on the same page, Bethel cited the cooperative relationship the two of them have.
“We’re going to have our battles, but we have a lot of mutual respect,” Bethel said. “We’re going into this process with a strong relationship.”
Poplar echoed Bethel’s sentiments.
“We know each other from our past work,” Poplar said. “I have the utmost respect for him. I’ve also enjoyed meeting the mayor-elect and will stand by her and do everything in my power to fulfill her vision.”
Fulfilling that vision will be tough with a 1,000-man shortage in the police department. While City Council has put money into the budget for recruitment, a change in how policing is viewed in Philadelphia is also needed, Bethel said.
Another stakeholder that Bethel will have to deal with is District Attorney Larry Krasner. Many believe that he has been an obstacle to public safety.
There’s going to be collaboration, Bethel said. And since both offices are data-driven, it should lead to some successes, he said.
“We’re going to be collaborating with the DA’s office to move forward with our work,” Bethel said. “But one of the things that we’re going to be doing, is that we’re going to be using the data we’ve developed from our work to be very transparent about the activities that were going [on], and how we’ve made those arrests, and we’re going to be moving forward with that work to inform the public. It is my hope that as a new administration, the DA’s office will work with us. I’m confident that we’ll be able to forge a different and new relationship with the DA’s office with the understanding that it could be at times challenging.”
Parker didn’t allow that line of questioning to go much further than she did with the questions about stop and frisk.
“We are forward-thinking,” she said. “We are not going to spend our time talking about the woes of yesterday. We are talking about building One Philadelphia, a city united in which every stakeholder is working together.”
Bethel, who lives in Montgomery County, retired from the Philadelphia Police Department in 2016. He spent 30 years in the department before taking a Stoneleigh Foundation fellowship and creating a pre-arrest diversion program for young people who get in trouble on school grounds.
He was promoted to deputy commissioner under Charles Ramsey after spending in 2008 after spending time leading the 6th and 17th police districts.
Selecting the next police commissioner began with several meetings in Parker’s backyard over the summer. She took the time to get to know the candidates before having her top contenders interviewed by former commissioners Ramsey and Richard Ross.
As one of his proteges, Ramsey called elevating Bethel from captain to deputy commissioner one of the best decisions he made during his term.
The team of Parker and Bethel is going to pay big dividends for the City in terms of public safety, Ramsey said.
“What excites me is that knowing his capabilities and with a strong mayor like we have coming in January, you’re going to see a lot of changes in Philadelphia. Change for the better,” he said.
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