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The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD, Philly PD, or Philly Police) is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the County and City of
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, fourth-largest police force and sixth-largest non-federal law enforcement agency in the United States. Since records were first kept in 1828, at least 289 PPD officers have died in the line of duty. The Philadelphia Police Department has a history of
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...
, intimidation, coercion, and disregard for
constitutional right A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may ...
s, particularly during the tenure of
Frank Rizzo Francis Lazarro Rizzo (October 23, 1920 – July 16, 1991) was an American police officer and politician. He served as commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) from 1967 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He wa ...
as police commissioner (1967–1971) and mayor (1972–1980). The patterns of police brutality were documented in a 1978
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
–winning ''
Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'' series by William K. Marimow and Jon Neuman.


History


19th century

In 1797, Philadelphia established a
night watch Night Watch or Nightwatch may refer to: Being on duty at night * The nighttime shift worked by a security guard (night watchman) * Watchman (law enforcement), organized groups of men to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement * One of ...
, and employed its first police officers to patrol the streets in daytime in 1833. The two entities were combined in 1854 to form the Philadelphia Police Department, which was modeled on London's Metropolitan Police. In 1870, a Philadelphia policeman shot and killed Henry Truman, an unarmed Black man in an alley. He was found guilty of manslaughter. In 1887, the police department was put under control of the city's Department of Public Safety. Two years later, the PPD inaugurated its mounted patrol, which was disbanded in 2004 but restored in 2011.


20th century

In 1913, L. M. Gillespie became one of the first women police officers in Philadelphia. Major
race riots This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa Americas United States Nativist period: 1700s� ...
broke out in 1919 and 1964. A well publicized raid of the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
occurred September 1, 1970. During the weekend of August 29–30, 1970, seven Philadelphia policemen were shot during widespread racial tension. In 1974, the Pennsylvania Crime Commission's "Report on Police Corruption and the Quality of Law Enforcement in Philadelphia" concluded "that police corruption in Philadelphia is ongoing, widespread, systematic, and occurring at all levels of the police department. Corrupt practices were uncovered during the investigation in every police district and involved police officers ranging in rank from policeman to inspector. Specific acts of corruption involving improper cash payments to the police by gamblers, racketeers, bar owners, businessmen, nightclub owners, after-hours club owners, prostitutes, and others are detailed in the report. More than 400 individual police officers are identified by first name, last initial, and badge or payroll number as receiving improper payments in terms of cash, merchandise, sexual services, or meals." A 1978
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
-winning series in ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'' by William K. Marimow and Jon Neuman documented extensive patterns of police brutality in the PPD. The tenure of Frank Rizzo as police commissioner (1967–1971) and mayor (1972–1980) has frequently been characterized as a period in which the PPD engaged in extensive police brutality and discriminatory policing. In 1985, federal judge
Clarence Charles Newcomer Clarence Charles Newcomer (January 18, 1923 – August 22, 2005) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for more than 33 years. Education and career Newcomer was born in M ...
criticized the PPD for indiscriminately arresting a number of Spanish-speaking people after an officer was killed, calling the arrests "unlawful" and "disgraceful".Douglas Martin (August 28, 2005)
"CLARENCE NEWCOMER, 82, LONGTIME FEDERAL JUDGE,"
''South Florida Sun Sentinel''.
In 1985, a residential eviction against an
anarcho-primitivist Anarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of civilization that advocates a return to non-civilized ways of life through deindustrialization, abolition of the division of labor or specialization, abandonment of large-scale organization and all ...
organization called
MOVE Move or The Move may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Move (company), an American online real estate company * Move (electronics store), a defunct Australian electronics retailer * Daihatsu Move, a Japanese car * PlayStation Move, a motion ...
lead to a shootout between the group and the PPD. During the standoff, a PPD Lieutenant in a PA State Police helicopter dropped C-4 onto a bunker on the roof of the house, often referred to as the MOVE compound. This caused a fire that killed six adults and five children in the house, and burned 65 other houses to the ground. The incident was investigated by the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission (MOVE).


21st century

In 2000, carjacking/shooting suspect Thomas Jones was beaten while wounded by more than one dozen law enforcement officers. In 2012, the PPD's education and/or experience requirements were increased to include at least one of four new options, including 60 college credits. In 2017, the PPD announced they would be moving the headquarters to the old
Inquirer Building __NOTOC__ The Inquirer Building, formerly called the Elverson Building, is an eighteen-story building at the intersection of North Broad and Callowhill Streets in the Logan Square neighborhood of Center City Philadelphia, completed in 1924 as ...
. In 2018, the Philadelphia Police Department's Gun Violence Reduction Task Force (G.V.R.T.F.) was founded within the Detective Bureau. The Task Force is staffed entirely by Detectives, and was created to focus on violent offenders & prior convicts (felons) in possession of firearms. In 2019, 72 Philadelphia police officers are taken off street duty over racist and hateful Facebook posts. In 2019, August 2019 Philadelphia shooting: Six PPD officers are shot and injured while serving a drug warrant. In 2019, Commissioner Ross resigns amid
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
claims within the organization. In 2020, during the
George Floyd protests in Philadelphia The George Floyd protests and riots in Philadelphia were a series of protests and riots occurring in the City of Philadelphia. Unrest in the city began as a response to the murder of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. ...
, Police Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna was suspended and charged with aggravated assault after he allegedly hit a student protester with a baton. Other incidents caught on video involving Bologna regarding the 2020 protests saw him tackling a female protester who had touched his bicycle, lunging at a journalist, and hitting a security guard. Previously in the 2000s, Bologna was videoed instructing his officers to turn off security cameras for a raid, and was suspended for "failing to properly supervise". A West Philadelphia unit he managed in the 2010s accumulated many misconduct complaints. Bologna was later found "Not Guilty" by a jury. In 2021, the city of Philadelphia paid $2 million to a Black woman who in 2020 was pulled from a car and beaten by PPD officers, as well as separated from her toddler for hours. The
Fraternal Order of Police The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodge ...
posted pictures on social media claiming "This child was lost during the violent riots in Philadelphia, wandering around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness. The only thing this Philadelphia Police Officer cared about in that moment was protecting this child." The officers involved in the beating of the woman and her separation from the toddler have since been fired. In 2021, a PPD Detective was reassigned and investigated after the department received evidence indicating she had attended the January 6 rally in support of overturning the 2020 presidential election result that preceded the U.S. Capitol attack. The investigation revealed the Detective did not participate in the riot, and did not enter the Capitol building. A 2021 report found that of more than 9,000 civilian complaints against PPD officers, "only 0.5% of civilian allegations resulted in any recorded consequence beyond a reprimand." The study found that not a single allegation of civil rights violations (including racial profiling and racial slurs by officers) was upheld. In 2023, Philadelphia police shot and killed Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop; the initial narrative given by Philadelphia police was that Irizarry was outside his vehicle, told by officers to drop a weapon, and "lunged at the officers", prompting the shooting. A day later, Philadelphia police admitted that Irizarry was actually inside his car during the shooting. Body camera footage showed Irizarry being shot through his car's rolled-up driver-side window, around five seconds after the shooting officer alighted from a police car. The shooting officer has been charged with murder. In September 2023, the charges were dismissed by Municipal Judge Wendy Pew. In late October 2023, Officer Patrick Heron accepted a plea deal that would place him in confinement for between fifteen and forty years. He had been accused of 200 counts related to charges of unlawful contact, sexual abuse of children, and forgery.


Notable investigations

*1894-95, Detective Frank P. Geyer investigated
H. H. Holmes Herman Webster Mudgett (May 16, 1861 – May 7, 1896), better known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes or H. H. Holmes, was an American con artist and serial killer active between 1891 and 1894. By the time of his execution in 1896, Holmes had engaged ...
, one of America's first serial killers who confessed to killing twenty-seven men, women, and children, some of which were later determined to be alive. Holmes killed his business partner, Benjamin Pitezel, in Philadelphia and later killed three of Pitezel's young children (two in Irvington, and one in Canada). Detective Geyer is credited with finding the bodies of the three children after a cross-country, international investigation. *1981, PPD Officer Daniel Faulkner was fatally shot by
Mumia Abu-Jamal Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook; April 24, 1954) is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Department, Philadelphia police officer C ...
(né Wesley Cook) while performing a routine
traffic stop A traffic stop, colloquially referred to as being pulled over, is a temporary Detention (imprisonment), detention of a driver of a vehicle and its occupants by police to Criminal investigation, investigate a possible crime or minor violation o ...
of the latter's brother, William Cook. A jury convicted Abu-Jamal, a former
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
member, of
first degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
. He was sentenced to death in 1982, but in 2011
prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
s said they would drop their pursuit of his execution and agreed to accept '' de facto'' life imprisonment without parole. The incident, subsequent
trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
and Abu-Jamal's conviction remain controversial in the US and around the world. *1999,
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
Gary Heidnik was executed by lethal injection. Heidnik kidnapped, tortured and raped six women and kept them prisoner in his
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
basement. A jury convicted Heidnik of the first degree murders of two of the women and sentenced him to death. *2001, American Ira Samuel Einhorn, a.k.a. "The Unicorn Killer" (born May 15, 1940), was extradited from France back to Philadelphia to stand trial for the 1977 murder of Holly Maddux. Einhorn was an outspoken
activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...
in the 1960s and '70s. In 1981, Einhorn fled to Europe to avoid the trial. In 1993, Einhorn had a
trial in absentia Trial in absentia is a criminal proceeding in a court of law in which the person being tried is not present. is Latin for "in (the) absence". Its interpretation varies by jurisdiction and legal system. In common law legal systems, the phrase i ...
and was convicted of
first degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
. In 2002, he was retried and again convicted. Einhorn was sentenced to life in prison without
parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
. *2012, Antonio Rodriguez, a.k.a. "The Kensington Strangler", received three life sentences for murdering three women in 2010. PPD Homicide Detectives obtained a confession from Rodriguez after he was arrested. *2013, a federal jury convicted
drug lord A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin, or lord of drugs is a type of crime boss in charge of a drug trafficking network, organization, or enterprise. Crime barons may be difficult to bring to justice: usually, they do not possess illegal goods. Ra ...
Kaboni Savage Kaboni Savage (born January 1, 1975) is an American drug dealer, organized crime leader, and mass murderer who was convicted of ordering the firebombing of a house where a federal witness lived, killing six people (including four children). He i ...
and his sister, Kidada, of orchestrating the 2004 firebomb murders of a witness's six family members and of conspiring to participate in a violent drug enterprise. The jury convicted Kaboni of 12 murders in total and he was later sentenced to death.


Organization

The PPD employs over 6,400 sworn officers and over 800 civilian personnel, and patrols an area of 369.4 km2 (142.6 mi2) with a population of almost 1.5 million. The department is subdivided into 21 patrol districts, and like many other large municipal police forces, it incorporates many special units such as a K-9 Unit,
SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...
, Bomb Squad, Community Relations Unit, Marine Unit, Narcotics Unit, and Highway Patrol Unit. The head of the PPD is the Police Commissioner, who is appointed by the Mayor. The current Commissioner is Kevin Bethel. Under the Commissioner are two three-star Deputy Commissioners. The First Deputy Commissioner heads Field Operations. The Deputy Commissioner and Chief Administrative Officer heads Organizational Services, Strategy, and Innovation. The Office of Field Operations is headed by the three-star First Deputy Commissioner of Field Operations. The current First Deputy Commissioner is John Stanford. The force comprises two commands, Patrol Operations and, Specialized Operations and Homeland Security; each command is headed by a two-star Deputy Commissioner. The Investigations Command is headed by a two star Deputy Commissioner. The two star Deputy Commissioner of Investigations is in charge of the Detective Divisions and Special Investigation Units/Divisions. The Detective Bureau is divided into two elements, with one Chief Inspector overseeing Detective Divisions, and a second Chief Inspector overseeing Special Investigation Units. The Office of Organizational Services, Strategy, and Innovation is headed by the three-star Deputy Commissioner and Chief Administrative Officer. Patrol Operations is headed by a two-star Deputy Commissioner of Patrol Operations. Patrol Operations is divided into two regional commands, Regional Operations Command (North) and Regional Operations Command (South). Each regional command is headed by a Chief Inspector, and is subdivided into three divisions (ROC-North: East, Northwest, Northeast; ROC-South: Central, Southwest, South). Each patrol division is headed by an Inspector. A division comprises three or four districts; there are 21 patrol districts in all, and each district is headed by a captain. Each District is subdivided into three or four police service areas (PSA's), each headed by a Lieutenant, for a total of 64 PSA's citywide. In January 2013, Commissioner Ramsey announced changes to the command structure of the department lowering the number of deputy commissioners from 9 to 6. Ramsey only replaced one of the deputies who was promoted from staff inspector of the Internal Affairs Bureau to deputy commissioner of the Office of Professional Responsibility.


Mounted units

The beginnings of the mounted unit can be traced to the Fairmount Park Mounted Guard created in 1867. In 1889 the Philadelphia Police Mounted Patrol Unit was established. The Philadelphia Police unit survived until 1952, however, the Fairmount Park unit would be used for parades and crowd control measures. The Fairmount Park Mounted Guard became the Fairmount Park Police in 1966, but maintained the same responsibilities. In 1972, Mayor
Frank Rizzo Francis Lazarro Rizzo (October 23, 1920 – July 16, 1991) was an American police officer and politician. He served as commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) from 1967 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He wa ...
found it unnecessary for taxpayers to fund two separate police departments, and merged the Fairmount Park Police into the Philadelphia Police, creating the Park Division. The mounted unit was once again used to patrol the streets of Philadelphia. The mounted unit survived to celebrate 100 years in 1989, but was disbanded in 2004 due to budgetary cuts by Mayor John F. Street's administration. On July 18, 2008, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey confirmed that plans are in the works to recreate the mounted unit. ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'' again reported on June 2, 2009, that Ramsey hoped to revive the unit once the city was in a better financial standing. The continued recreation of the Mounted Unit took an additional step forward on October 31, 2011, when the city announced plans to build a new facility for the unit in
Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, w ...
.


Ranks within the Philadelphia Police Department


Rank descriptions

To be promoted in the Philadelphia Police Department, police officers must finish their first year in the department. Then, when the next Corporal or Detective test is announced, they are eligible to take the test. Philadelphia PD Test for Corporal and Detectives is a written multiple choice test, lasting two to three hours. Also part of an officer's score is based on seniority. The ranks of Corporal and Detective have the same pay grade, but have different functions. The rank of Corporal is the first supervisory rank. Corporals are "Operations Room supervisors" and are responsible for overseeing a patrol district's operations room, or a special unit's operations; i.e., ensure that reports are submitted accurately and in a timely manner, etc. Only rarely do Corporals work the street. (A notable exception is Corporals in the SWAT Unit and Narcotics Bureau. Corporals in these assignments frequently work on the street.) A Corporal must have a minimum of a year's experience as a police officer. Sergeants command a squad of officers, making assignments to beats, assigning traffic details, helping to supervise the radio room, commanding Marine Unit patrol boats and performing other similar tasks. When assigned to the Detective Bureau, a Sergeant interviews suspects and witnesses, assigns Detectives to cases and investigates clues, among other duties. Sergeants must have a minimum of two years experience as a Police Officer, or a year's experience as a Corporal or Detective. The rank of Lieutenant is a managerial rank. Lieutenants command an assigned area in a police district or a specialized unit, such as a traffic unit. If assigned to the Detective Bureau, a Lieutenant supervises an investigation. Lieutenants must have a minimum of one year's experience as a sergeant. The rank of Captain is the first command rank. Captains either command police districts or direct the activities of a specialized unit. When assigned as a detective, a Captain organizes and directs surveillance activities and police raids, prepares cases, interviews and interrogates suspects and testifies in court. Captains must have a minimum of one year's experience as a Lieutenant. Staff inspectors are usually departmental administrative officers, serving on the police Command Staff under a commissioner or deputy commissioner. They are generally assigned to inspect police divisions, districts and units, evaluate police practices, equipment and personnel, and make recommendations for improvement where necessary; however, they may also command units and divisions. Staff Inspectors must have a minimum of one year's service as a captain. Inspectors are senior executive officers who typically command divisions and supervise officers under their command during any major police action, disaster or emergency. Inspectors must have a minimum of one year's service as a Staff Inspector or Captain. Chief Inspectors are senior departmental administrative officers who either command bureaus within the department or are in charge of a regional command.They also inspect police divisions, districts and units, evaluate police practices, equipment and personnel, and make recommendations for improvement where necessary. Chief Inspectors must have a minimum of one year's service as a Staff Inspector. Deputy Commissioners and above are appointed by the city managing director with mayoral approval, not by the city civil service. The two First Deputy Commissioners head the Office of Field Operations and the Office of Organizational Accountability. The commissioner is appointed by the city managing director with mayoral approval, and is in charge of the entire department.


Detectives

Detectives are part of the Detective Bureau, and may be assigned to Detective Divisions, or specialized units like Homicide, Shooting Investigation Group, Organized Crime/Intelligence, Special Victims Unit, Gun Permits Unit and Background Investigation. The commanding officer of a detective division (a Captain) reports to the Inspector of Detective Bureau Headquarters. The ranking supervisor at Detective Bureau Headquarters is the Chief Inspector of the Detective Bureau. Detectives are not considered supervisory personnel, despite being equivalent to a Corporal in pay grade. Detectives are a civil service rank of their own, and take orders from a Sergeant. There are also Police Officers who serve in an investigative capacity, such as in the Juvenile Aid and Special Victims Units. Police Officers who are assigned to the Detective Bureau are paid the same pay as a Police Officer assigned to patrol. Unlike most law enforcement agencies, the Philadelphia Police Department Detective Bureau does not maintain the ranks such as Detective Sergeant or Detective Lieutenant, etc. The supervisors (Sergeant, Lieutenant & Captain) in the Detective Bureau can be transferred back to patrol, and are required to maintain a uniform. Unlike other big city police departments, such as
NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
,
Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest Law enforcement in the United States#Local, ...
, and
LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...
, Philadelphia Police detectives do not have a uniform that can be worn during details or funerals. The prescribed attire of a Philadelphia Police Detective is proper business attire, and the rank of Detective is a permanent, plainclothes, civil service assignment. In the Philadelphia Police Department, the rank of Detective can only be achieved by a civil service exam and there are no grade differentiations. This is in contrast to NYPD that has the ability to make field promotions to the rank of Detective for an outstanding performance or circumstance.


Demographics

The PPD's officers are and have been of many ethnicities. A large number of
Irish Americans Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
have been PPD officers since the 1850s. * Male: 70% * Female: 30% * White: 57% * African-American/Black: 33% * Hispanic: 8% * Other: 1.5%


Awards and honors


Decorations

:''See: United States law enforcement decorations#Philadelphia Police Department'' * Sgt. Robert F. Wilson III Commendation for Valor * Commendation for Bravery * Commendation for Heroism * Commendation for Merit * Commendatory Citation * RNC Service Ribbon * Military Service Ribbon * Covid Ribbon


George Fencl Award

The George Fencl Award, named in honor of Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector George Fencl, is given by the Daily News to a Philadelphia Police Officer who exemplifies compassion, fairness, and civic commitment. The award was first given in 1986.


Officers who died on duty

Over 260 Philadelphia Police Department officers have died on duty. In 1996, Lauretha Vaird became the first female PPD officer to be killed in the line of duty from gunfire.


See also

* 39th District corruption scandal * Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice *
List of law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania This is a list of law enforcement agencies in the state of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania says it has more police departments than any other state in the country. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2008 ''Census of State and Local ...
*
Philadelphia Fire Department The Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services (EMS) to the city of Philadelphia. The PFD's official mission is to protect public safety by quick and professional response to emergencies and through ...


References


External links

*
List of Philadelphia Police Department line-of-duty deaths
from
Officer Down Memorial Page The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc. (ODMP) is a non-profit organization that maintains a website listing American law enforcement officers, prison officers and police dogs who have died in the line of duty. History The ODMP was established i ...

Articles with Philadelphia Police Corruption tag
from
KYW-TV KYW-TV (channel 3), branded as CBS Philadelphia, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPSG (channel 57 ...
{{Authority control Broad Street (Philadelphia) Government departments of Philadelphia Municipal police departments of Pennsylvania