My Philly Daily On Crime Column: Philly Needs More Cops

 Philly Daily ran my On Crime column on why Philadelphia needs more cops.

You can read the column via the link below or the following text:

Paul Davis: Philly needs more cops – Philly Daily

Back in June NBC10 questioned whether Philadelphia had enough police officers to cover the summer’s FIFA World Cup matches in Philadelphia, as well as the 250^th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence celebration.

As NBC10 noted, the city budget called for 6,380 sworn officers, according to a department spokesperson. As of the end of April, there were about 5,300 sworn officers and recruits in training.

“That gap represents a vacancy rate of more than 18%,” Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said. “The department is working to close it, though progress has been gradual.”

“Yes, staffing is down, but we were on an upward trajectory,” Bethel added. “It’s not moving as fast as folks would hope. Our main concern is our officers not getting burned out – not working to the point where the job becomes unattractive to them because they feel like they're being forced to work, they don't have time for family, they can't take a vacation.

“I think part of my journey was to make sure that the men and women feel valued in this police department,” Bethel said. “It’s one thing to work overtime because you have to, it's, another thing to work overtime because you believe in the mission, you believe the spirit of core.” 

I reached out to retired Philadelphia police sergeant Gary Capuno (seen in the above photo) and asked him why he thinks the city needs more cops. 

"The City of Philadelphia needs more police officers. The lack of manpower does not just endanger the community - it endangers the officers who are still out there trying to do the job, “Capuano replied. 

“There doesn't seem to be the same level of concern about the safety implications of having critically low numbers of officers patrolling our neighborhoods. Stand outside almost any police district during a change of shift and see how many officers hit the street. When I last worked the street in 2016, we were lucky at times to have three or four officers working a tour.” 

Capuano said that the manpower problem didn't happen overnight. 

“When I started in the 4th District, headquartered at 11th and Wharton Streets, the district was divided into 13 sectors. Sectors required manpower. In 2009, the department moved to Police Service Areas (PSAs) and did away with the traditional sector system. Many districts were then divided into only three or four PSAs.

In 2010, the 4th District was absorbed into the 3rd District, creating an even larger geographic area for officers to cover. By 2015, when I was promoted to sergeant, we were at least 150 officers short in that district alone.” 

Capuano said this shortage has real-world consequences. 

“If manpower is truly the reason an arrest cannot be properly processed, releasing the prisoner does absolutely nothing to solve the manpower problem. It simply masks it. More importantly, directing officers to release prisoners because there are not enough personnel available to handle an arrest can create the appearance that everything is functioning normally when clearly it is not. If supervisors continually work around staffing shortages rather than allowing the consequences of inadequate manpower to be documented and addressed, they risk becoming complicit in concealing the seriousness of the problem.” 

Capuano said that one cannot demonstrate the need for additional personnel while simultaneously taking steps that prevent the shortage from being reflected in the actual workload. 

“At some point, Philadelphia's manpower problem needs to be acknowledged rather than managed in ways that make it less visible. When I was a sergeant, I tried to do what little I could to bring attention to the problem and get additional personnel for my district. I made phone calls. I sent emails to the FOP. And I still have the receipts. It may not have been much, but it was more than simply accepting the situation as normal. 

Capuano said that this issue is personal to him. 

“I believe inadequate manpower played a role in the circumstances that led to the injury that ultimately ended my police career. As a sergeant, I knew my officers were working the street with limited backup. I had a responsibility not only to supervise them, but to back them up on priority jobs when they needed help.

When you know you have only a handful of officers working, you don't have the luxury of sitting back and saying, "I'm the supervisor." When they need help, you go. 

“That meant I wasn't simply supervising from a distance. I was responding to priority jobs, backing up my officers and putting myself into situations where, with adequate staffing, additional patrol officers might otherwise have been available. In my opinion, the manpower shortage placed additional demands on me as a supervisor and contributed to the circumstances surrounding the injury that eventually ended my career.”

Low manpower isn't merely a number on a staffing report, Capuano explained. 

“It has real consequences for the men and women working the street. It means fewer officers available for backup, supervisors taking on additional operational responsibilities, officers working longer hours and losing days off, and everyone being asked to do more with less.

So how do we begin fixing it?

“The city needs to seriously reconsider what it offers prospective police officers. I believe one of the most effective recruiting tools would be a significantly improved retirement package. Offer officers a meaningful 20-year retirement with lifetime benefits, and I believe you would see a substantial increase in applicants willing to make policing a career. The department should also explore schedules such as four 10-hour workdays. A schedule that provides officers with more regular weekends and meaningful time with their families could improve recruiting, retention, morale and quality of life.

You cannot continually ask fewer officers to do more, work longer hours, lose days off, handle larger geographic areas and carry an ever-increasing workload without consequences.

Low manpower also affects response times.

“It affects proactive policing. It affects morale. It affects officer safety. And ultimately, it affects public safety.

Philadelphia needs more police officers—and no amount of creative staffing, statistical maneuvering or working around the shortage can substitute for putting enough cops back on the street."

Paul Davis’s On Crime column appears here each week. He also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine.