By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net
Every few weeks, a new rumor sweeps through the Philadelphia Police Department about new Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw.
In May, one of the earliest rumors had Outlaw heading back to the West Coast, to take over as police chief in her native Oakland. Other rumors had an unhappy Outlaw negotiating a buyout, and packing her bags for other locales.
This week, the big rumor was that Outlaw was supposedly out of the office on a two-week vacation sandwiched around the July 4th holiday, when all days off for cops have been canceled for Saturday, because a fresh round of protests is expected in the birthplace of democracy. As a joke, somebody sent around a photo of a milk carton with the police commissioner's face on it, under the caption, "Missing. Have You Seen Me? If found, contact Philly Police."
"Bullshit rumors trying to undermine her," snapped Managing Director Brian Abernathy, when asked about the Outlaw on vacation rumor; he referred further comment to the police department.
But today, instead of having a department flack issue a statement, Outlaw decided to address the latest rumor personally. Not true about that vacation, she stated firmly in a phone interview today. "As you know there's rumors that just run amok" at the Philly P.D. But contrary to rumors, Outlaw said, "I'm here and I'll be working this weekend."
In her first four months on the job, Outlaw has had to deal with an officer getting murdered in the line of duty, a pandemic, and the George Floyd protests that the department clearly was unprepared for. The protests quickly devolved into riots, looting and arson fires that left the city with hundreds of millions of dollars in property damages.
As one crisis after another hit the P.D., Outlaw came under steady criticism from inside and outside the department for not being visible enough on the job, at venues like crime scenes, press conferences, and the front lines when protesters were storming the city.
As one veteran police commander put it, "A police commissioner is expected to be seen by the troops, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, fighting alongside them. Not sitting in the comfort of her office, which is apparently all she does all day."
Asked about the visibility issue, Outlaw says that mugging for the cameras is not her style. And instead of hiding in her office, she's says she's out and about in the city, but on her own terms.
"I'll drive around and pop up at precincts," she said. "It's not planned. It's more authentic. When I show up I don't travel with cameras, I don't do things for cameras."
About her critics, Outlaw says, "They want cameras, they want sound bites."
"All I know how to do is be me," she says. "I don't do anything for attention's sake." And as far as those rumors about her leaving town, forget it.
"I genuinely have a love for the community," she said. "This is my home. I've got a family here. Folks got me for good."
Outlaw's visits to local police districts are indeed quiet unscheduled events, with no fanfare. On one such early visit in May, Outlaw told the cops she was there trying to learn the city. One cop was impressed after his one-on-one talk with the new police commissioner. Said another cop after the visit, "She likes people to be real with her and she hopes people do not take her kindness for weakness."
Outlaw herself says she's still learning the city while traveling around town with a face mask on during the pandemic.
"They're still trying to figure out who I am," she said of the rank and file. "I recognize that I'm definitely an outsider, but I'm dealing with far more distractions than I should be." Distractions that she says her male predecessors didn't have to deal with.
The distractions include false rumors about her and anonymous critics like the ones on this blog who call her names like "the little girl" who allegedly runs the department.
I asked Outlaw why the troops are always talking about her.
"There's a lot of people who applied for my job and didn't get it," she says. Similarly, there's a lot of people who wanted to be members of her executive committee that oversees the department, but didn't get that either.
She talked about dealing with "a sense of pettiness that most' folks don't realize they're engaging in. It's disheartening," she said, as well as "a distraction" from "a lot of good work that's going on in the department."
"People are still trying to figure me out," she says again.
Outlaw says she knows that department morale is low, and in the wake of the George Floyd murder, it's a horrible time to be a cop.
"It's not just me," she said, it's the entire department that's "not getting the benefit of the doubt" from the public, as well as the media. But she says she plans to "continue to uplift and positively praise those in the department who are continuing to do the right thing."
Morale in the department is indeed at rock bottom, and Philly cops are leaving at record rates. More than 20 cops resigned, retired or were dismissed on Thursday; another 20 cops filed to leave the department on Friday.
Critics blame Outlaw for the low morale and rip her for firing cops accused of misconduct during the riots, such as Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna, who was indicted by D.A. Larry Krasner, but was terminated before an Internal Affairs investigation was completed. And Chief Inspector Anthony Boyle, who was dismissed after an investigation by Internal Affairs was completed.
There was also the demotion of Deputy Police Commissioner Dennis Wilson, who, in the absence of Outlaw on the front lines, authorized the use of tear gas on protesters who were trying to take over I-676.
Wilson was demoted in humiliating fashion at a press conference where he had to fall on his sword, and confess that he was solely responsible for the decision to fire tear gas.
But Outlaw defends her recent personnel moves, saying, "We have to hold ourselves accountable. It works best for us as well. . . . ultimately it works the best for everybody."
We were out of time, but I still had more questions. So I sent Outlaw an email asking why all the cops who have recently been demoted or fired have been white males, which took on the public appearance of a purge. Was she trying to make up for historic inequities by purging the department brass of white males?
"Law enforcement, in general, is a white-male dominated profession," she responded in an email. "Doesn't matter the size of the department. Yes, there are historic, pervasive and systematic inequalities within the policing culture. This almost always comes with a sense of entitlement whenever there is disruption to the status quo."
"You've mentioned some personnel . . . that were either dismissed prior to my arrival and/or were dismissed for behaviors that took place prior to my arrival," she wrote. "You also mentioned a personnel transfer that was not punitive in nature."
"With that said, when disciplining, I focus on behaviors," she wrote. "I don't make up the facts and evidence presented to me for determination. An assertion of there being a purge of white, male commanders [in a majority white department] is absurd. This is evident by recent promotions and other discipline decisions I've made."
"We do a lot of things really well as a department but we tend to be weary of what/who we don't know," she wrote. "We'll do even better when we collectively embrace individual accountability and are open to learning more about differing perspectives and the benefits diversity [all kinds] bring to policing."
Lastly, I asked Outlaw via email why she took a knee with protesters, in apparent violation of department policy directives. Those directives for handling protests say that cops of all ranks "shall maintain complete neutrality and objectivity at all times." And that "under no circumstances should the department be made subservient to any group."
"Humbling ourselves [kneeling] to acknowledge the roles we [police] have had in an, at times, inequitable justice system is an act of solidarity and human kindness and not one of division or politics," Outlaw responded. "The sooner we in law enforcement are willing to listen, learn and understand this, the sooner we will be able to work toward mending the broken relations we have with our communities."
"Also, I didn't find wearing a mask with sorority colors to a Divine 9 [all service organizations] event inappropriate. Alpha Kappa Alpha is an organization dedicated to service to ALL mankind."
And with that last question we were done with the interview. For a police commissioner whom this reporter had previously claimed was treated by the Kenney administration as though she was encased in plastic bubble wrap, hopefully it was the start of a dialogue.
That's more than I can say for Mayor Kenney, who usually hides behind paid mouthpieces when he's toppling statues in the middle of the night, or having the cops guard his girlfriend's house, or drive her back and forth to New Jersey.
It's also better than what I've gotten from District Attorney Larry Krasner, who's been stonewalling me for more than 10 months as he lets one dangerous criminal after another out of jail. And gives everybody a pass in Philly who's caught toting an illegal gun.
The police commissioner gets credit for showing up. Let's hope it's the start of a trend.