The Philadelphia City Council Committee on Legislative Oversight held a long-awaited hearing “examining the strategy and tactics deployed by the City of Philadelphia for crowd control” during last June’s Pride Parade.
Philadelphia Police were videotaped using aggressive tactics to quell what they claimed was a violent crowd; using tasers, horses, motorcycles, and crowd control implements, and wearing masks to hide their identities, which are strictly prohibited by the Police Department.
The hearing was held at the behest of Councilmember Rue Landau, who said she had received complaints from various parade attendees who forwarded video, photographs, and eyewitness accounts.
“We heard from people who were angry there was such an aggressive show of force on what was supposed to be a day filled with joy,” Landau said. “We heard from people who feel frightened and said they do not feel safe going to the Gayborhood, and that the experience reopened a deep and painful wound in the relationship between law enforcement and Philadelphia’s LGBTQ+ community, particularly Black and Brown, queer, and transgender Philadelphians.”
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, who for eight years served as Police Department liaison to the LGBTQ+ community, said he did not come to the hearing to make excuses, but to explain what happened on June 7th.
“I hope at the end (of this process) we do what we should be doing,” Bethel said. “Behind the scenes (we’re) having this constant conversation around what needs to change. It was not a perfect day.”
Using a slide show, Bethel explained the rationale behind closing certain streets and how decisions were made regarding deployment of police personnel. Bethel said some of the issues that caused the fracas were due to significant amounts of foot traffic in the neighborhood that caught police off-guard.
Bethel showed videos captured by crowd-goers, some of which were purposely blurred to, as the Commissioner explained, hide the identities of underaged people. The altered videos led to some confusion by members of City Council, who felt they could not fully glean what was being shown. Bethel attempted to explain that the video showed roughly 1000 youth “descending into neighborhoods” where there are no activities or events for them. The videos, according to Bethel, depicted fights between young people.
“I have a duty to not allow others to get victimized,” Bethel said. “I have a duty to take some action and make sure someone doesn’t get hurt. If I stand by and do nothing and a child gets knocked down, brutalized, and assaulted, I’ll be (answering questions as to why I) didn’t do anything.”
In response to questions from City Councilmembers, Bethel could not explain why police officers were wearing masks, in direct opposition to Department policies.
“I have absolutely no idea why my officers were wearing masks. That is not acceptable,” Bethel said. “But, unfortunately, folks violate policy, and we have a process for that.” Bethel said the matter was being investigated.
Council did not seem satisfied by this answer, and Councilmember Isaiah Thomas pressed further, circling back to an earlier statement Commissioner Bethel had made about officers on assignment at the parade who were “of the community.”
“How many officers were there that you would consider “of the community?” Thomas asked. “Because if I’m of the community and I see something wrong, I think I’d feel obligated to report it. So, how many officers reported any bad behavior from their colleagues that day?”
Bethel said he did not have that information, as the Department was still reviewing body cam footage and handling external complaints. Bethel said that it is the responsibility of a supervisor to identify officers who are not in compliance with Department policy and make “adjustments.”
This answer left Thomas concerned.
“How do we have a climate with law enforcement where I watch my colleague do something wrong, and then you are telling us the person responsible for addressing this is a supervisor,” Thomas asked. “(Is) there no responsibility for the officer (who witnessed the noncompliance?) Our men and women are trained in policy, and if they observe officers doing this that are inappropriate and outside of policy, they have a duty to report that (behavior).”
Bethel said some officers had shared concerns about how the Department had operated, but did not offer specifics.
The sharpest comments came from Councilmember Rue Landau, who called Bethel’s testimony “painful and perplexing,” and said the Commissioner had contradicted himself throughout.
“Most people do not believe you were there to protect them,” Landau said. “You went forward with aggressive over-policing. The cornerstone of community policing is trust, and that was broken, and it will take a very long time to repair this.”
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