Krasner asks City Council for more funding to keep his DA staff from becoming ambulance chasers

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Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner appeared at a City Council hearing Monday, calling for increased funding to investigate crimes more thoroughly and arrest “big-time criminals,” while also advocating for the retention of skilled attorneys who might otherwise become personal-injury lawyers.

Krasner said there are many people out there who want to poach his young district attorneys, and he needs more money to keep them in their jobs.

“Oh, trust me, other employers are circling all the time,” Krasner told the council. “We do not need our team to run over there to work on car crashes. We need our team to be right here driving down homicide numbers, violent and property crimes across the city.”

The district attorney did not specify a number in his request, and the finance committee didn’t consider giving him more money, as it was handling mid-year budget transfers between departments, not funding proposals.

Undeterred, he went on to ask for even more money to set up a unit to go after big-time criminals instead of just locking up small-time drug dealers.

“The DAO will expand our existing unit into a division to develop and foster more robust long-term and short-term investigations,” Krasner told the committee. “We’re not talking about little stuff on the street corner, we’re talking about the big stuff, the family that has owned a corner for two decades, that’s what we’re talking about here.”

The DA came to the hearing to voice his opinion that several departments within his office need more money, and even used Mayor Cherelle Parker’s signature line to curry favor with council — and perhaps loosen the purse strings.

“Particularly involving prolific offenders, as well as further dismantling complex drug, sex, and labor trafficking operations in the city, all of which, of course, make us exactly what we want to be — safer, cleaner, greener, with economic opportunity,” he said.

Krasner spoke about projects that council members have called for in the past, but said that, without more money, they couldn’t happen.

“Support with this specific budget request will ensure that all ADAs working within the gun crime strategies and prevention collaborative are being compensated equitably with other peer colleagues who are prosecuting the most violent offenses and cases within the criminal justice system,” he said.

Krasner added that his office is working with other agencies to achieve their goals.

“The Philadelphia DA’s office plans to achieve its public safety goals in collaboration with local and very friendly and very effective federal justice partners by strengthening the operations of its previously city council-funded earmarked initiatives,” he said.

He specified areas such as Kensington, where the need is great for more law enforcement resources.

Krasner specifically asked for more than $2 million in additional funding.

“We will be requesting about $2.6 million in class 100 mid-year appropriations in the general fund to fully fund payroll costs connected to ongoing and new public safety violent crime and modern enforcement dated initiatives,” he said.

Council’s finance committee didn’t commit to any of the DA’s requests.