Larry Krasner for Philadelphia district attorney | Endorsement

Across America — in Los Angeles, Oakland, Calif., San Francisco, Baltimore, Chicago’s Cook County, and other jurisdictions — reform-minded district attorneys have fallen out of fashion, many of them scapegoated as their policies meant to curb mass incarceration ran headlong into a rise of homicides and retail theft during the pandemic.

In Philadelphia, however, one of the country’s original progressive prosecutors deserves a third term. Despite some missteps, Larry Krasner has earned the Editorial Board’s endorsement.

Given that there are no GOP opponents, the district attorney race will likely be decided in the Democratic primary.

In his two terms in office, Krasner, 64, has fought to hold law enforcement accountable, often attracting the ire of the Fraternal Order of Police and former prosecutors. Before Krasner, only two Philadelphia police officers had ever been convicted of killing someone on duty while in uniform.

It may be a low bar, but Krasner has added two more convictions to that tally. Eric Ruch was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the 2017 shooting of Dennis Plowden, who was unarmed, and Edsaul Mendoza pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the 2022 shooting of 12-year-old TJ Siderio.

» READ MORE: The high cost of police misconduct | Editorial

While police unions and their allies have complained about a so-called chilling effect from Krasner’s zealous prosecution of officer misconduct, the prospect of being held to the same laws they are sworn to uphold shouldn’t merit a second thought from the upstanding officers who make up the overwhelming majority of Philadelphia’s law enforcement community.

In addition to keeping the current roster of police honest, Krasner has also dived into the past. His department’s Conviction Integrity Unit, which has successfully overturned the convictions of more than 40 people, is another effort Philadelphians should be proud of.

No one should spend their life sitting in prison for an offense they did not commit. As Philadelphia’s own Benjamin Franklin said nearly 250 years ago, it is better that a “hundred guilty persons go free than that one innocent should suffer.”

Krasner has run into criticism, some of it from judges, that he may be overzealous and has overstepped his bounds when holding law enforcement to account. The district attorney should be mindful of those perceptions and work scrupulously to avoid any bouts of pertinacity that could undermine what he has accomplished.

Krasner has also been criticized for being prickly and hard to work with, and that he thinks too much like the defense attorney he was, instead of the prosecutor he is. Those qualities — and his policy choices — make Krasner an easy target for those looking to assign blame for the surge in crime during his tenure.

To be sure, there are certainly echoes of Krasner’s previous life in his decision-making. That said, it would be just as difficult to single out the district attorney as the cause of pandemic-era spikes in crime as it would be to fully credit him for recent reductions in homicides and shootings across the city.

There were 171 homicides in the first four months of the year in 2021; this year, there were 63 — a decline that is among the sharpest in the nation.

Additionally, Krasner has shown signs that while he remains a reformer, he has also moderated his perspective.

In his 2017 victory, Krasner was heavily focused on his plans to hold bad police officers accountable and change the culture of the office, and he had much less to say about his office’s role in reducing and preventing crime.

Speaking with this board, Krasner acknowledged that sometimes penalties need to be imposed for behaviors to change. Whether or not he understood that balance eight years ago matters much less than the fact that he clearly does now.

» READ MORE: Circumventing DA Larry Krasner is not the answer to city’s gun woes | Editorial

Krasner’s opponent, former President Judge of the Municipal Court Patrick Dugan, asserted that if elected, he would strive to hold police accountable and invest in diversionary programs, while focusing on violent and repeat offenders.

He would also devote more attention and staff to work with families of crime victims, which has been a recurring critique of the district attorney’s office under Krasner. Dugan is a qualified challenger, but the incumbent has the edge.

Another reason voters should opt for Krasner is the looming presence of President Donald Trump. While Dugan has made clear he has vastly different values than Trump, he also seems less likely to counter the White House as vigorously as Krasner. Not only has Krasner been vocal about his opposition to the president’s lawlessness, but he also sued Elon Musk over his $1 million voter sweepstakes during last year’s election.

“We got enough profiles and cowardice out there right now that we are going to need some fighters in every major city,” Krasner said about standing up to the Trump administration. “I am happy to volunteer to be a fighter in Philadelphia if I get another term.”

Voters should ensure they have Krasner fighting on their side.