“If the police had felt as familiar with the people in my district as they do to the people in Fishtown and South Philly, if they had felt like these were their pals, I argue their response would have been different,” Gauthier said.
Outlaw said she agreed with Gauthier but insisted protesters were not without blame in the cases where police responded with force.
“Something happened and so what these investigations are going to glean for us is timeline,” Outlaw said. “We’re talking about whether or not police response was proportionate to what they were seeing at that time.”
Outlaw’s response disappointed West Philly resident Shakira King who described waking up to the sound of helicopters and news that a police car was on fire at 52nd and Market streets.
She told the committee that a SWAT officer threw a tear gas canister in her direction while she and a group of others tried to protect Hakim’s Bookstore, a Black-owned business, from potential looters.
King described a burning sensation which penetrated her eyes and lungs.
“These kinds of super violent attacks help no one especially when a community is consistently underserved and has to rely on itself to stay safe,” King said.
King backed the bill and made a plea that the department gets no additional budget increases.
In the first days of the protest, the city spent $7 million in police overtime, a police official said during the hearing.
And yet, said King, public schools are underfunded and affordable housing remains lacking.
Monica Allison, another West Philly resident and committeeperson, said tear gas doesn’t belong in neighborhoods.
“Nor should it be used in the city,” Allison said. “It is reserved for military and war zone use and Philadelphia is not one.”