(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Soon after being inaugurated, new Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker declared a state of emergency in the city due to the extraordinarily high levels of crime, ABC 6 reported.
After her inaugural ceremony, Parker laid out a 100-day Action Plan meant to make the city a safer place.
Parker’s first order of business was to issue an executive order declaring high crime rates against both individuals and their property an emergency.
“You’ve all heard it all starts with public safety,” Parker began.
“That’s why my very first public order does declare that state of emergency here in the city, she continued. “I am fully committed to ending the sense of lawlessness that has been so pervasive in our city and bringing back of order and lawfulness.”
The order directed Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel to crack down on crime and report to Parker’s office on his department’s progress within 30 days.
“We will pursue those who harm and traumatize our neighborhoods across the city,” Bethel said.
The action plan included measures to increase the burgeoning police department’s recruiting numbers in order to bring in more officers, who are to specialize in reducing violent crimes and combating property offenses, such as theft.
Parker’s plan also intends to address “quality of life” issues, such as minimizing “litter, graffiti, potholes and abandoned cars.”
The plan also aims to develop “a strategy to permanently shut down open-air drug markets,” Parker noted.
“…There is a lot of work to be done,” she said. “Mark my words, what you see here today is only the beginning.”
The plan more broadly seeks to address the declining opinion of their security among the people by taking care of “immediate safety concerns” and fostering “longer-term community resilience.”
The aim of the new government is, therefore, to “restore a sense of lawfulness to the city” by increasing law enforcement presence.
Many of Philadelphia’s present woes can be traced to the election of George Soros-funded District Attorney Larry Krasner, first elected in 2017 and again in 2021, who has pursued an aggressive pro-criminal agenda.
Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature tried unsuccessfully to impeach Krasner last year over his dereliction of duty.
During the mayoral race, candidates openly discussed ways they could circumvent the controversial prosecutor to impose law and order by diverting cases to federal prosecutors.
“We need to bring back the certainty of punishment in the city of Philadelphia,” said Democrat candidate Derek Green, a former prosecutor, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
