The Philadelphia Police Department doesn’t conduct formal evaluations of its main patrol and crime-fighting strategy, creating an inconsistent patchwork of officer deployment across the city as it’s in the midst of a persistent gun violence crisis.
And the department, which has been plagued for more than a year by severe understaffing, doesn’t know how many positions it needs to meet its public-safety goals. That’s according to City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, whose office on Tuesday released a long-awaited audit of the Police Department and its nearly $800 million budget
The deficiencies have material effects on how the department responds to crime, the review concluded, including a low homicide clearance rate, slow 911 response times that are worse in communities of color, and a dearth of community input and trust.
The number of officers on patrol declined significantly after the pandemic and amid an exodus of officers, but the review found that those declines weren’t uniformly felt.
For example, the largest overall decline in patrol was in the city’s East Division, which includes the Kensington neighborhood that has long struggled with open-air drug sales and violent turf wars. It had nearly 25% fewer officers patrolling this year than in 2017.
The smallest decline in patrol deployment was in the city’s Central Division, which includes Center City.
In its request to Rhynhart’s office, Council members said they “have little insight into how PPD is spending its funds.”
The answer is that 95% of its funding is spent on personnel costs like salaries and benefits. Rhyhart’s office found that while its total police budget is, per capita, on par with other large police departments, its spending on personnel costs was slightly higher than most. Other large departments averaged about 90%, they found.
Rhynhart’s review compared response times by district, and found that the longest response times were in districts with the highest concentration of Black and brown residents. For example, the majority-Black 12th, 19th, and 35th police districts, along with the majority-Hispanic 25th district, have consistently longer response times than majority-white districts.
The review said that the disparity exists even when analysts controlled for call volume and crime rates. The review recommended the department consider an additional external assessment of its 911 system
For example, personnel information and employment records for every department employee is kept on index cards in addition to electronically. Vacancies are tracked manually in a Microsoft Excel file. Civilians who work at the department record their time on physical timesheets, and that information is later manually input into electronic systems.
And a handful of sworn officers’ full-time job is delivering inter-department memos between districts.
Edit to add the link:
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www.inquirer.com
And the department, which has been plagued for more than a year by severe understaffing, doesn’t know how many positions it needs to meet its public-safety goals. That’s according to City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, whose office on Tuesday released a long-awaited audit of the Police Department and its nearly $800 million budget
The deficiencies have material effects on how the department responds to crime, the review concluded, including a low homicide clearance rate, slow 911 response times that are worse in communities of color, and a dearth of community input and trust.
The number of officers on patrol declined significantly after the pandemic and amid an exodus of officers, but the review found that those declines weren’t uniformly felt.
For example, the largest overall decline in patrol was in the city’s East Division, which includes the Kensington neighborhood that has long struggled with open-air drug sales and violent turf wars. It had nearly 25% fewer officers patrolling this year than in 2017.
The smallest decline in patrol deployment was in the city’s Central Division, which includes Center City.
In its request to Rhynhart’s office, Council members said they “have little insight into how PPD is spending its funds.”
The answer is that 95% of its funding is spent on personnel costs like salaries and benefits. Rhyhart’s office found that while its total police budget is, per capita, on par with other large police departments, its spending on personnel costs was slightly higher than most. Other large departments averaged about 90%, they found.
Rhynhart’s review compared response times by district, and found that the longest response times were in districts with the highest concentration of Black and brown residents. For example, the majority-Black 12th, 19th, and 35th police districts, along with the majority-Hispanic 25th district, have consistently longer response times than majority-white districts.
The review said that the disparity exists even when analysts controlled for call volume and crime rates. The review recommended the department consider an additional external assessment of its 911 system
Outdated systems and inefficiencies
Reviewers also found that the department too often relies on outdated human-resources systems, manual data entry, and paper records.For example, personnel information and employment records for every department employee is kept on index cards in addition to electronically. Vacancies are tracked manually in a Microsoft Excel file. Civilians who work at the department record their time on physical timesheets, and that information is later manually input into electronic systems.
And a handful of sworn officers’ full-time job is delivering inter-department memos between districts.
Edit to add the link:
Philly Police Dept. has inconsistent strategies, slow response times, and outdated systems, city controller says
The department has a lowest-in-class homicide clearance rate, slow 911 response times that are worse in communities of color, and a dearth of community input and trust, a review found.
www.inquirer.com
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