Philadelphia’s first female mayor has been sworn in and promptly signed an executive order declaring a Public Safety Emergency to tackle rampant crime.
Cherelle Parker, a 51-year-old Democrat and long-serving councilwoman, campaigned on a centrist platform of safety, jobs, and city services.
She promised on the campaign trail to hire 300 more police officers, including community officers, and restore ‘constitutional’ stop-and-frisk. She also put forth the idea of making school year-round, to reduce juvenile delinquency.
Her plans will include increasing the number of police officers on the streets with a focus on community policing – a policy she championed when on the city council.
Cherelle Parker, the newly sworn-in 100th mayor of Philadelphia, delivers her inauguration address during the ceremony on Tuesday
Parker is seen swearing in the new police commissioner for Philadelphia, Kevin Bethel, on Tuesday
‘Officers there as guardians and not warriors, getting to know the people they are sworn to protect and serve,’ she said on Tuesday night, during her inaugural address.
Parker takes over a city where violent crime is declining – homicides are down by more than 20 percent year on year, and non-fatal shootings are down 28 percent.
But Philadelphia in 2020 and 2021 had the grim reputation as one of America’s most dangerous cities, with over 500 murders each year – significantly more than New York, which is five times as large.
And theft on Philadelphia is rocketing, with reported vehicle theft up 72 percent. Retail theft is also soaring, and has risen 28 percent in the last year.
Drug use is also a huge problem, with the city’s Kensington neighborhood particularly hard hit and shocking scenes of addicts injecting themselves in broad daylight. More than 90 percent of the heroin now found in Philadelphia contains xylazine, or ‘tranq’, which was developed in 1962 as an anesthetic for veterinary usage. The drug causes a blackout stupor along with deep, festering wounds that frequently lead to amputations.
Drug users are pictured sprawled in the park, waiting for their next fix. The city of Philadelphia is struggling to cope with the surge in use of xylazine
A preacher talks to drug users at McPherson Square Park off Kensington Avenue
The inner city district has long been a magnet for drug users seeking their next high
Kensington, which up until the 1950s was a bustling industrial district, is now described by The Philadelphia Inquirer as ‘the poorest neighborhood in America’s poorest big city’
Exclusive pictures of Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood reveal a shocking scene of drug devastation with addicts injecting themselves in broad daylight
A sad scene persists on Kensington Ave in Philadelphia at Christmas
Parker said that her Public Safety Emergency will ‘expeditiously get every available resource into neighborhoods struggling with the scourges of crime, gun violence, drugs, and addiction.’
She said her new police commissioner, Kevin Bethel, has been tasked with creating plans for those crises and for quality-of-life crimes including car theft, shoplifting and illegal ATV use.
In early October, the city was shocked by footage of a dirt bike-rider leaping off his bike to jump on the roof of a parked car, while a 23-year-old mother and her children were sitting inside.
The man jumped on the glass of the rear window, shattering it: when the woman got out to confront him, a gun fell out his pocket and he head-butted her with his motorbike helmet on, before speeding off.
Cody Heron, 26, was arrested and charged with assault, among other charges.
A Philadelphia dirt bike rider callously smashed the rear windshield of a car driven by a young mom showing complete disregard for her children in the back
The biker uses both feet to completely smash through the rear windshield of the car
The mother got out to confront him despite him being armed and having a gun aimed at her
Incensed by what has happened, Bullock confronts the biked who proceeds to head butt her
Parker also said cleaning up the Kensington drug market is a priority.
‘If somebody tells you ‘we think she lacks compassion because she wants to be too aggressive in cleaning up the open-air drug market’ – you tell them to think about whether or not they would want their mother, father, sister, brother, loved one on the streets openly using intravenous drugs,’ she said.
She said she intends to ready the city for 2026, when Philadelphia will celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.
The Declaration of Independence was signed at Independence Hall in the city on August 2, 1776, finalizing the colonies’ break with England.
Philadelphia will also in 2026 co-host the FIFA World Cup.
‘If we don’t get our own house in order before company comes, and if we don’t address public safety, we won’t be ready to receive anybody in 2026,’ she said.
‘I want the world to know that I am fully committed to ending this sense of lawlessness and bringing order back to our city, and a sense of lawfulness.’
She said Philadelphia is open for business.
‘We are going to bring together local, state, and federal officials – along with our business leaders who have a stake in the economic success of our city – so that we can tap into the intellectual resources of Philadelphia, and truly try to create economic opportunities for everyone.’