Reclaim Philadelphia FOP contract statement
For the past year and a half, we have worked tirelessly for a police contract with more transparency, more police discipline, and more harm reduction for our communities. On September 14th, the City of Philadelphia and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) announced that an agreement on a three year contract had been reached. In many ways, this negotiation was a historic first. For the first time in Philadelphia and nationally, public testimony was part of the contract process. This was a critical step towards increased transparency and greater community involvement. It is important that those who are most affected by police violence and misconduct be part of the negotiations. Reclaim Philadelphia and our partner organizations: Amistad Law Project, Abolitionist Law Center, Juntos, Movement Alliance Project, Philly Power Research, VietLead, and Philly Neighborhood Networks, as well as many other community groups, worked to put the outrage of community members at the center of the contract negotiations, a process that has traditionally taken place in secret, behind closed doors.
This contract was initially due for renewal last year, but due to the uprising that erupted after the police killing of George Floyd, Mayor Jim Kenney decided to extend the previous contract for one year. Last Summer, many promises of police reform were made by Mayor Kenney and other elected officials. The new contract delivers on a few of those promises, but falls short on many others.
For years it has been impossible to get a copy of the police contract, despite it being a public document. The immediate public release of the contract upon agreement, is an important step towards transparency and accountability. In the process of negotiations, Council Member Katherine Gilmore Richardson hosted the first-ever public hearing about the police contract, allowing many diverse voices to be heard. Her action is being contested by the FOP in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and has the potential to set the precedent for greater transparency across the entire state. The Office of Labor was proactive in soliciting input from community groups on the process. They pushed for tougher police discipline and more transparency in arbitration, which is what Philadelphians overwhelmingly demanded during the public hearing.
Adding civilians to the Police Board of Inquiry (PBI) proceedings, which determine guilt and set discipline for police officers who violate the terms of the contract, is another step towards transparency and accountability. We're also glad to see that the list of offenses requiring discipline has been expanded with the inclusion of “hate-group membership” and “threatening, harassing or intimidating” the public, as actions requiring discipline. These inclusions show just how harmful police behavior has been and how low our standards of “acceptable” behavior are. On the whole, discipline reforms fall short of setting up a fair and adequate disciplinary system for the Philadelphia Police Department. Officers can still appeal PBI rulings to an arbitration panel and have their discipline overturned. Many penalties for discrimination, harassment and failing to secure the safety of prisoners remain symbolic.
The pay raise given to the police is outrageous when our city’s unemployment remains so high and we are still suffering the effects of the Mayor’s huge cuts to City Services. A nearly 10% pay increase is insulting. The day before the contract was finalized, the City also released details of a $2M settlement with Rickia Young who was brutally beaten in front of her child last October by Philadelphia Police. We as taxpayers will pay this $2M, the pay raise, and the overall increased police budget. Too many people in Philadelphia are living in poverty, through a pandemic, without the things they need to survive. But instead of investment into housing, education, jobs, and healthcare, our communities are offered an expensive and violent police force.
We remain hopeful since the renewed contract does lay the groundwork for shifting functions out of the police department. The contract paves the way for Defund work by making the process of removing duties and jobs from under the police department (crossing guards, traffic, EMS dispatches) easier. Reclaim and our partners will continue to pressure the City government to see that these changes are made.
The small number of wins for accountability, transparency, and towards defunding the police is striking. Most of this can be blamed on how the negotiation process is structured. State law Act 111 mandates that if the City and FOP are unable to reach an agreement, a panel of three arbitrators determine the final outcome. Although arbitrators should be impartial, they are not. Their pro-police bias was evident when they stated that the “murder of George Floyd [and] other high-profile incidents involving police and people of color have led to community distrust of the police,” instead of acknowledging that the lack of consequences for violent police officers causes the distrust. Without eliminating Act 111, it is hard to imagine the deep structural changes happening that so many demanded in mass protests last year. The arbitration process does not offer enough community feedback and participation, and until it is changed completely, these contracts will not reflect the will and desire of the people of Philadelphia.
The root of the problems in our communities cannot be addressed by policing. The police do not keep us safe. The city must stop investing our dollars into the decades-long failures of police reform and instead completely reimagine public safety. We will continue to fight for transparency, accountability, and harm reduction in the short term, while taking steps towards the long term goal of abolition.