New Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel looks to restore ‘law and order humanely’

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Kevin Bethel has been sworn in as the new Philadelphia Police Commissioner and looks to utilize his more than three decades of police experience to improve public safety.

Bethel was sworn in at Russell Conwell Middle School in Kensington on Tuesday, addressing the neighborhood’s drug crisis and its impact on school children that he saw as the chief of school safety.

Before becoming commissioner, Bethel served for nearly 30 years in PPD, becoming deputy commissioner. He most recently worked as chief of school safety for the School District of Philadelphia.

After being sworn in, Bethel thanked Mayor Cherelle Parker for the opportunity and said that as commissioner, he would be “embracing a profound responsibility.”

“So I say to all of you, let’s embark on this journey together,” Bethel said. “With courage, determination, and unwaving belief in a safer and better tomorrow for Philadelphia. I thank you Mayor for the opportunity to serve. I thank the community for the opportunity to serve. Let’s get to work.”

Bethel also addressed the ongoing drug epidemic affecting the nearby Kensington neighborhood, saying he would restore “law and order humanely.”

“Our streets, as well as our schools, should be safe havens for our children, are instead battlegrounds against substance abuse, violence, and despair here in Kensington,” Bethel said. “The reality is stark and painful. Needles litter our paths … Our youth are often diverted from their potential, and the community spirit is under siege and stressed. But let it be clear, this ends today.”

According to the city’s most recent data, a record high 1,413 people died from overdoses in 2022, including a 20% jump among Black residents. The single highest number of overdose deaths by city zip code — 193 deaths — occurred in the Kensington and Harrowgate neighborhoods.

Bethel said Parker’s “P.I.E.” model for policing within the city will be threefold: “prevention, intervention, and enforcement.”

“Prevention, it’s about reclaiming our future,” Bethel said. “It means investing in education and providing our youth with alternatives to the streets. It’s about working with our community-built pathways to success, not pipelines to prevention.”

“Intervention is about recognizing we cannot arrest our way out of this problem,” Bethel said. “It involves partnering with our citizens and stakeholders to provide support and treatment for those in need. We want to heal our community.”

“And lastly, enforcement means restoring law and order humanely and with dignity,” Bethel said. “It means that open drug markets that are occurring right here in Kensington and cast a shadow over our community will be dismantled. We will pursue those who harm and traumatize our neighborhoods across the city.”

Bethel is replacing interim commissioner John Stanford, whom Mayor Jim Kenney appointed in September following the resignation of Danielle Outlaw. Outlaw stepped down to take on a new deputy chief security officer role with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Upon taking the new mantle, Bethel will look to address the city’s gun violence crisis, as well as upticks in theft throughout Philadelphia.

There were 408 homicides in 2023, a 21% decrease from 2022. Non-fatal shootings went down 28%, and violent crime dropped roughly 7%, according to 6abc. However, retail theft jumped up 28%, and reports of stolen vehicles increased by 72%.