for BigTrial.net
The Philadelphia Police Department, which was woefully undermanned for last year's George Floyd protests, was out in force yesterday as the nation awaited the verdict in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who's accused of murdering Floyd.
The Philadelphia Police Department canceled all days off yesterday for all personnel as the city had more than 1,000 officers out on the street working 12-hour shifts.
In West Philadelphia, more than 200 bicycle cops were on patrol while the city shut down about a mile of 52nd Street, which was the subject of widespread looting last year, with barricades from Parkside Avenue to Larchwood Avenue.
In Center City, some 70 bicycle cops were stationed downtown to handle any potential protests/riots.
The only problem was that yesterday less than 100 protesters showed up. As one cop who was out there put it, it was serious overkill.
But the city is still stuck with the bill. And the total cost of the extra police deployment for just one day yesterday was an estimated $2 million.
Of course the cost for accommodating the constitutional right to protest in the streets was not something The Philadelphia Inquirer was concerned about when it dispatched three reporters to chronicle yesterday's doings in the never ending battle for social justice.
"Philly protesters demand justice in police killings of Black people," was the headline in the paper of record.
The paper faithfully and uncritically covered the antics of a "few dozen protesters" who were out in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum hoisting banners that read "KOPS AND KLAN GO HAND IN HAND."
According to the Inquirer, the protesters were watched by "several dozen officers and a half dozen police vehicles" stationed nearby in Eakins Oval.
Yeah, right. Never mind that last year according to the Washington Post's database of fatal police shootings nationwide in 2019, a total 14 unarmed black victims and 25 unarmed white victims were killed by police, according to Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute.
Of course in Philadelphia, we do have a problem with black men being hunted down and killed. Philadelphia last year recorded 499 murders, the highest rate in 30 years, with more than 90% of the victims being black men.
As were most of their killers.
And this year, with 146 murders so far, a 28% increase over last year, we're on a record pace for at least 638 murders. But nobody was out on the streets yesterday protesting the out-of-control murder rate.
In anticipation of the verdict in the Chauvin trial, more than 1,000 National Guard troops have been deployed in Philadelphia, at the request of the city. And meanwhile, Mayor Kenney, who has been clueless about how to stop the murder rampage in Philadelphia, called for “active peace” on the streets.
“So when the verdict comes, no matter the outcome, let us resolve to demonstrate peacefully, to voice the pain and anguish loud and clear but without destruction, and let us stay united working to ensure that Black lives matter today — and every day,” the woke mayor wrote Friday in an open letter to all Philadelphians.
No doubt Mayor Kenney is down with the struggle. But the peaceful protesters may not share his sentiments.
As the one protester with the megaphone who was quoted by the Inquirer put it yesterday, "We better get the right verdict."