As she prepares to take office in the new year, democratic Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker named Kevin Bethel as Philadelphia's new police commissioner after outgoing commissioner Danielle Outlaw resigned in September.
Parker made the announcement during a Wednesday morning press conference at City Hall.
“We believe that our next commissioner will lead our department into a new day and a new era of public safety and community engagement," Parker said as Bethel along with several city leaders stood by her. "And with that in mind, I am proud to say that I have asked Kevin Bethel to serve as our police commissioner. And he has accepted the call.”
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Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey also attended the press conference. Parker said both Ramsey along with former commissioner Richard Ross all played a role in the selection process.
“I began with expertise coming from two former Philadelphia Police Commissioners, Charles Ramsey and Richard Ross," Parker said. "They conducted the interviews with every candidate that they considered."
Ramsey said he and Ross came up with a series of questions for the commissioner candidates that addressed several topics, including their vision for Philly's future and relationships between the police department, district attorney's office, court system, and police union.
"We even touched on Kensington," Ramsey said. "We touched on the problems that we face there that have gotten national attention unfortunately. And how they would go about addressing those kinds of problems."
Ramsey said he and Ross also took a look at the candidates' backgrounds, education and previous assignments.
"And we used all that to make a final determination of what we call, readiness," Ramsey said. "I mean, I can tell you from experience. Philly is not easy. And not everyone can handle Philly."
Ramsey and Ross ultimately selected three final candidates, which included Bethel. Mayor-elect Parker then named Bethel the new commissioner.
Bethel, 60, served in the Philadelphia Police Department from 1986 until 2015 and had multiple roles, including captain of the 17th District and later on, the Deputy Police Commissioner.
Ramsey talked about meeting Bethel for the first time in 2008 during the inaugural party for Philly's mayor at the time, Michael Nutter. Ramsey joked about how much Bethel resembled him.
"And then I saw him," Ramsey said. "And it made me start wondering, you know, did my father ever come to Philadelphia? Is there something going on here that I don't know about?"
Ramsey talked about promoting Bethel from 17th District captain to Deputy Commissioner.
"And I went to the 17th and that’s when I really had a chance to see in action, the kinds of things he was doing," Ramsey said. "The innovation that he was bringing forward. The juvenile enforcement team and various other things that he was doing at that particular time. It caught my attention. And when it came time for me to really take a look and announce my senior command staff, and even though he was a captain, I promoted him to deputy commissioner. And I never, ever once regretted it. It’s one of the best, if not the best, decisions I made as police commissioner here in Philadelphia.”
Ramsey credited Bethel with helping to introduce Philadelphia’s school diversion program which diverts all first-time offending youth who commit low-level offenses on school property into community prevention services.
“And he’s the one that came to me one day, out of the blue and said, ‘Boss can I talk to you?’ And I said, 'Yeah, sure.' ‘We’re locking up too many kids.' And I said, 'What are you talking about?' And he read statistics about the number of children being arrested in schools," Ramsey said. "And I asked him, I said, ‘Okay, what do you plan to do?’ And that’s when he came up with an idea around diversion and so forth. I gave him the ball and let him run with it. And now it’s nationally recognized as a model in policing.”
Bethel left the Philadelphia Police Department in 2015 to work in the juvenile justice system. He was then named the head of safety of the Philadelphia School District in 2019.
He also holds a Bachelors of Science in criminal justice from Chestnut Hill College and a Masters of Science degree in public safety management from St. Joseph’s University.
During Wednesday's press conference, Bethel spoke about the importance of improving the relationship between police and the community.
"I’m proud to be a cop," Bethel said. "But we’re not your enemy. We’re here to serve. We have our issues. And we can address them. But the men and women that I see back there and many of them in the room that I know personally, we’re here to serve. And I ask you to give us the opportunity to do that. The opportunity to serve you in this space. Give us the opportunity to be what you want us to be. Raise your voices when it needs to be raised. But let us be a part of the community. Let us work with you in that work.”
Bethel also discussed the balanced approach he'd take to addressing the city's crime.
“I can sit here and tell you, I ain’t gonna lock up a 10-year-old child for coming to school with a pair of scissors," he said. "But I also could tell you that I’m gonna lock up somebody who comes in a store and robs somebody with a gun. I am gonna talk about locking up somebody who sits there and kills people in our streets. We are gonna talk about that. I’m gonna talk about my mother-in-law who’s scared to come out of her door. My mother-in-law has been in her home for 50 years, but scared to come out of her door. Why can she not sit on her step? So we have a job to do as part of policing. Our job is to enforce the law.”
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“Let me tell you what I know about Kevin Bethel. He is an outstanding leader in law enforcement, particularly when it comes to helping our children,” Shapiro said. “The work that he has done with juveniles, I think is second to none. If that’s the direction that the mayor-elect is going in, he’d be an outstanding choice. Most importantly, I’m going to be working closely with the mayor-elect. And my team will work closely with her commissioner to address violence in our communities. We have an unacceptable level of violence. And we need to coordinate – both in terms of resources and personnel – to address that. And I’ll be excited to partner with the mayor-elect and her commissioner.”
Shapiro also addressed Bethel’s work in the school district.
“I think it’s critically important that the next commissioner here in Philadelphia, be able to interact with everyone in the community. Especially our youth,” Shapiro said. “They need added support. Added services. Added help. And someone like Kevin Bethel has a unique history when it comes to lifting up our youth. The mayor-elect will make her announcement but we think Kevin Bethel is an outstanding person.”
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner also released a statement on Bethel.
“As a seasoned law enforcement professional who has served for decades in the Philadelphia Police Department, and who oversaw a sea change in juvenile justice interventions at the School District of Philadelphia, Kevin Bethel brings strong credentials – and promise – to the post of Police Commissioner. I look forward to working with him on new and creative approaches that will make Philadelphia thrive," Krasner wrote.
A spokesperson for the Philadelphia School District also congratulated Bethel on his new role and spoke on his work in the city's schools.
"During his four years leading the Office of School Safety, Chief Bethel has been an exemplary leader and colleague," the spokesperson wrote. "Under his leadership, the District became the only school district in the state accredited as a provider of PA Act 67 School Security Personnel training, the foundational certification for all school safety professionals in Pennsylvania."
Roosevelt Poplar, the president of Philadelphia FOP Lodge 5 -- the union that represents Philly's police officers -- also released a statement on Bethel.
“We welcome Chief Kevin Bethel back to the best police department in America. He is the right choice at the right time for our department and city and has our fullest support," Poplar wrote. "We look forward to working shoulder-to-shoulder with incoming Commissioner Bethel to continue our important work of growing our ranks and keeping Philadelphia safe for residents and businesses looking to invest in our great city."
Before the announcement, mayor-elect Parker had promised to name Outlaw's successor "by Thanksgiving," and that it would be the first personnel discussion she would make before taking office.
In an interview with NBC10's Lauren Mayk -- for the Battleground Politics podcast -- Parker said she was looking for someone with knowledge of the city and "emotional intelligence."
“Knowledge of the city of Philadelphia is extremely important along with cultural competency and, quite frankly, emotional intelligence,” Parker said. “In addition to that we’re going to need a strong leader who is not afraid to make tough decisions that may not be popular with some in our city.”
Parker also said then that she had considered candidates from outside of Philadelphia but emphasized the importance of seeking out local candidates.
“We have to pay attention to the talent that we have right here in our city and sometimes we’ve overlooked people who’ve been here but we will conduct a national search,” she said. “For me, what’s most important is we find a leader who would agree and can affirm and develop a crime plan, a public safety plan, a holistic plan that coincides with my vision. And that is to make Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity to all.”
Parker is set to take office in January.
