Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel is nearing two years on the job and has been hard at work leading the department in its efforts to reshape the city’s perception, write Victor Fiorillo for Philadelphia Magazine.
Bethel started out as a beat cop in 1986 after the Philadelphia Police Department began actively recruiting more officers of color.
As he reflects on the 39 years since he first started out, he’s seen many changes, namely the technological advances.
Philadelphia is on track to potentially see its fewest number of homicides since the 1960s.
Bethel credits part of that progress towards graduating more officers from the academy since he took on the role. This is despite the city still being about 1,000 officers “short of where we need to be,” said Bethel.
However, there’s more.
“You have to look at our improved clearance rates in both homicides and nonfatal shootings. This is one of the key reasons that numbers are dropping in those areas,” Bethel added.
The aforementioned technological advances have played a role in helping the department get better at solving serious crimes. This is in addition to the creation of its Shooting Investigation Groups, and having more time and resources to properly handle each case.
Read more about Kevin Bethel and his department’s work in Philadelphia Magazine.
