Following the letter signed by 14 of 17 Philadelphia city council members on June 8 rejecting the proposed $14 million increase in funding for police, Mayor Jim Kenney released a plan late last night for police reform, leaving the law enforcement budget the same as Fiscal Year 2020.

For 2020, the budget allocated for the Philadelphia Police Department was $709 million of the total $4.2 billion for the whole city.

Kenney introduced the reforms by saying that he and other members of his administration still have a lot to learn while also expressing gratitude for the colleagues that called them out.

“This has been a humbling experience for me and members of my administration. Many of us have realized that, as progressive and inclusive as we think we are, we still have a lot to learn,” he said in a released statement. “I am grateful to our colleagues throughout the City government, especially the Black men and women, who called us out when we made mistakes, pushed us to do better, and urged us to act now.”

In Kenney’s statement on the Philadelphia Government website, he also laid out some  of his plans for reform, which include:

• All use of force by cops must now be reported by Police Radio. Extensive guidelines on using or pointing firearms, and explicitly prohibiting choke holds, sitting or kneeling on a person's neck, head, or face.
• Create a Civilian Police Oversight Commission. This would be run by civilians, and would go over the complaints and use-of-force violations that occur.
• Philadelphia Police Department will issue quarterly reports in order to have more transparency with the community in regards to internal affairs that includes complaints filed against PPD, what types of complaints, and their status in the reporting system.
• Establishing technology that is an early warning system for detecting bad law enforcement behavior. 
   

However, the quarterly reports will not include the officers names. Additionally, it has come as a surprise that kneeling on people was not always prohibited? These new “actions” seem like policies that should have always been mandated by government officials, and is shocking to see just how much free reign the police had, have, and even with these new regulations- will continue to have.

At the town hall meeting on the morning of June 10, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in regards to police reform that they do not only have a responsibility now, but over the course of history to undergo extreme change in Philadelphia. Council President Darrell Clarke backed Outlaw’s statements.Backing Outlaw’s claim was Council President Darrell L. Clarke who said: “There will be aggressive reform.”