An ‘unapologetic’ Mayor Parker proposes $872M police budget with money for forensics, tech upgrades, and recruiting
Parker framed the proposal to keep funding level as a second down payment on her plan to improve public safety following a pandemic-era surge in violence.
We’re not in 2020 anymore.
Five years after a movement to reduce law enforcement funding swept the nation and galvanized Democrats to fight for police budget slashing, the Philadelphia Police Department is looking at a nearly $900 million budget that appears largely uncontroversial among city lawmakers.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who took office last year after campaigning as a tough-on-crime Democrat, unveiled her second city budget proposal on Thursday, which included $872 million for the police department. The amount is roughly in line with last year’s allocation, and it includes expanded funding for crime-fighting technology and officer recruitment.
The mayor framed the proposal as a second down payment on her plan to improve public safety following a pandemic-era surge in violence, saying that despite a steep decline in shootings last year, “no one is shouting ‘mission accomplished’ around here.”
And she drew applause from the room of Council members, elected officials, business leaders, and city workers when she said she trusts the police department to carry out her mission.
“I’ve often been criticized for being too pro-police. I don’t agree,” Parker said. “Philadelphians want to be safe and feel safe, and they deserve that basic human right. And I am unapologetic about supporting our police department.”
City Council must approve the police budget proposal for it to become law, and negotiations with the legislative body will take place over the next several months before the next fiscal year begins in July. Here’s what’s in Parker’s proposal.
Police funding remains roughly level with recent years
The police budget has ballooned over the last decade, though much of that growth was under former Mayor Jim Kenney. The force’s allocation grew by more than $200 million over his eight years in office.
Since Parker took over last year, she has kept police funding levels roughly consistent. This year’s proposed $872 million is slightly less than the $877 million that the city allocated to the department last year.
However, her proposal for next year is higher than what the department is actually spending this year. The city is projecting that the PPD will spend only $852 million by the end of this fiscal year, or about $25 million short of its budget. That can be attributed in large part to staffing shortages — the city didn’t spend as much on officer salaries as it planned for.
While there are some new initiatives and programs slated for this year, wages for the department’s more than 7,000 employees make up the vast majority of its budget. Of the proposed $872 million budget, the city projects that roughly $835 million of that — or 95% — will go to pay and benefits.
And those wages may change. The city is in the process of negotiating new contracts with each of the four major unions that represent municipal workers, including the police union. Parker proposed that the city set aside more than half a billion dollars in a reserve to cover costs associated with multiyear contracts that could include raises.
Continued recruitment as PPD is down more than 1,000 officers
Parker on Thursday touted that her five-year plan includes $350,000 a year for police recruitment efforts such as marketing, a continuation of investments made in recent years to bolster hiring amid a major shortage of officers.
The mayor’s administration says some progress has been made. Parker ran on a promise to add 300 so-called community police officers to the force, and the administration says they’ve met that goal by deploying officers to foot beats and commercial corridors.
The department also said in budget papers that it hired more than 350 officers last year. But that masks a deeper problem. The police department is still drastically understaffed.
As of late December, more than 1,500 positions that had been budgeted for were vacant, according to a city manager’s report. Of those, about 1,100 are uniformed officer positions and the remainder are would-be civilian employees. That means that across the department, which is budgeted to have more than 7,800 employees, about 20% of positions are unfilled.
A new crime lab, at long last
The city already set aside millions of dollars to construct a new crime lab, and officials through two administrations have spent years securing funding and reviewing real estate options to build a new space for police to process evidence.
After the lengthy planning process, Parker announced Thursday that the city will build a new police forensics lab in a building at 4101 Market St. in University City. If City Council approves the plan, the 118,000-square-foot facility could open as early as next year and would triple the size of the current lab, which officials have long said is too small.
» READ MORE: New Philly police forensics lab will be in University City, Parker administration says
Parker’s budget proposal includes $67 million over five years to cover the cost of the new lab and associated equipment. That includes adding new technicians to the existing complement who will process and test evidence including DNA, cell phones, guns, drugs, and more.
Police officials say the addition of staff will help decrease the amount of time between when police drop off evidence and when a lead can be relayed to a detective, ultimately reducing the length of criminal investigations.
According to the administration’s five-year plan, the police department’s goal is to process guns within 48 hours of their being recovered — which is no small task given the office says it receives more than 6,000 guns and 40,000 casings a year.
Expanding technology like electric bikes, drones, and cameras
Parker’s proposal includes several other investments in police technology. Some examples include:
E-bikes: Parker proposed spending $400,000 to purchase 50 electric bicycles for officers. Those bikes will be used largely by police who are working long parades, community events, and motorcades, with the idea being that they allow officers to travel longer distances without getting fatigued.
Drones: The department says it will continue to expand its drone program. The force currently deploys drones to use as aerial surveillance in circumstances such as search-and-rescue missions, disaster response, and large events. Officers are also testing their use in narcotics and street racing investigations. The force, according to its five-year plan, is looking to test smaller drones for “special tactical needs,” such as flying them into dangerous buildings before officers enter to ensure a safe approach.
Dashcams: By this summer, 750 police cars will be outfitted with dashboard cameras that activate when an officer turns their emergency lights on. The cameras capture a panoramic view of up to three lanes of traffic, and are in addition to cameras that face inward. A pilot of this program began earlier this year and was funded in previous budgets.
Body cams: Parker said that every officer will be equipped with a body-worn camera by the end of the year. The force has had a body camera program in place for the better part of a decade, and thousands of patrol officers already have them. There are a handful of specialized units representing a small portion of the force that will be outfitted with cameras this year.