Tell Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney: No New FOP Contract Without Accountability

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Dear Mayor Kenney,

There is a crisis of accountability in the Philadelphia Police Department. Police brutality, racial profiling, and the inability of the PPD to investigate and discipline its officers create pervasive distrust of the PPD in the Philadelphia community—particularly in communities of color—and impede the PPD’s ability to protect the public’s safety.

When Black public leaders like Eagles’ safety Malcolm Jenkins speak out for common-sense police accountability measures and transparency over the choosing of a new Commissioner, the head of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) attacks, instead of listening to long-needed demands for transformation and change.

The collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police, up for renegotiation this year, is a prime opportunity for policy changes that will hold the police accountable and improve their relationship with the community. We, as signers to this letter, strongly recommend that you ensure the following policies are incorporated into the agreement:

1. An independent, civilian-run police oversight agency that is adequately funded and ensures transparency and accountability in the way the police department operates
2. Reforms to the broken grievance arbitration system that reinstates police who violate the Philadelphia Police Department’s Disciplinary Code
3. An end to the policy of “stop and frisk” (both pedestrian and vehicular stops) that discriminates against people of color 
 
We also support the demands of the Rally for Justice Coalition: Philadelphia police must reside in the city, police officers must report observed excessive use of force and other rule violations by other officers.

We also actively support the leadership of public figures like Mr. Jenkins to speak on these issues.  It is everyone’s “lane” in the City of Philadelphia to fight for police accountability. 
Finally, any police commissioner appointed to oversee the over-6000 officer force must agree to these demands, and Mayor Kenney must immediately make the process to pick a new commissioner transparent, and ensure that any commissioner agrees to our demands around transparency and accountability.

As our elected official, we sincerely hope that you will work with us to bring about these policy changes so that the Philadelphia Police may finally live up to its credo of “Honor, Integrity, Service.”

Sincerely,

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Tell Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney: No New FOP Contract Without Accountability

There is a crisis of accountability in the Philadelphia Police Department. And Philly residents are outraged at a department that has hundreds of documented racists on the force, that rehires abusive cops after they are fired, that stops Black and Brown drivers with unfounded accusations of marijuana smoking, with zero evidence, and that has made community access to police complaint database records next to impossible.

When Philadelphia Eagles’ safety Malcolm Jenkins organized a forum on the Philly police, and then wrote a commonsense editorial pushing Mayor Kenney for major transparency and accountability into their search process for a new Police Commissioner, the head of Philadelphia’s Fraternal Order of Police went on a personal, ugly attack against Jenkins; disrespecting not just him, everyone in Philadelphia who demands that our police enshrine transparency and accountability into a department riven by abuse, sexism, and racism.

Mayor Kenney has two major chances to hold our police accountable in his second term: to make sure any new commissioner doesn’t take their seat without agreeing to major transparency and accountability in police oversight, and to demand transparency and accountability as a part of the Fraternal Order of Police contract, on the table now for negotiation. Residents, advocates, and organizations across Philadelphia including POWER, Media Mobilizing Project, and ACLU-PA are coming together because we must demand that there's no new FOP contract without real accountability our communities can feel--are you in?

Read and sign onto our letter to make our demands impossible for Mayor Kenney to ignore.