Mayor Kenney's Million Dollar-Plus Security Detail Protects Him From Angry Protesters At Pig Roast

Whenever he hears about Philadelphians who live in fear of being hit by flying bullets, Mayor Jim Kenney always says that he feels their pain.

“We know residents are afraid, afraid to attend cookouts or go to basketball courts, afraid to let their kids play outside," the empathetic mayor said last week as the city surpassed Chicago for having the highest per-capita murder rate in the nation.

But although the bodies here are piling up in record numbers, it's comforting to know we have a mayor who cares. 

"I heard it on my corridor tours, I hear it at community meetings, I read your emails. I hear you and it truly breaks my heart," Kenney said about the fear residents have expressed to him regarding out-of-control gun violence. 

But when it comes to his personal safety, the mayor doesn't have much to worry about, or the personal safety of his fiancee. That's because Kenney and his gal pal are guarded 24/7 by a security detail with at least eight members. They drive four unmarked black SUVs often parked around City Hall behind green saw horses marked with the initials MPD, for Mayor's Police Detail. 

It's a security detail that according to a couple of knowledgable sources, costs taxpayers more than $1 million a year. It's a trend in Democratic-led cities such as Chicago, Baltimore, and San Francisco, where they may be screaming to defund the police, but where taxpayers are shelling out millions to fund private security details for progressive mayors like Kenney. 

And these security details sure are busy racking up overtime. Last night, Kenney's security detail was at work at three different locations. The city had to even call in reinforcements because of an unruly protest outside the mayor's home last night that injured two cops.

On Tuesday, a 24/7 security detail was parked on the 3100 block of 13th Street in South Philly, outside the home of Letitia "Letty" Santarelli, whom the mayor's been officially engaged to since December, 2019.

The security detail at Letty's usually involves two cops in an unmarked black police SUV outfitted with lights and sirens. 

A marked police car from a local police district often shares the duty around the clock of guarding Santarelli's house, where the mayor sometimes stays. 

Meanwhile, at 301 Race Street in Center City, there's another 24/7 security detail posted at a condo where Kenney lives. It usually consists of a couple of cops stationed in another black SUV.

On Tuesday night, however, more cops than usual were guarding the mayor's home. That's because the protest group ACT UP Philadelphia was staging a barbecue to protest Kenney's policies regarding the homeless. 

ACT UP claims our soft-hearted mayor isn't giving away enough free housing to the homeless. A poster for the event displayed a picture of the mayor's head on a pig roasting on a spit. 

"End all evictions," the poster said. "Come to eat. protest @Kenney's . . . Come roast Kenney for his failures."

But last night, the protest turned violent, and a couple of cops got hurt. 

Sgt. Eric Reiser was hit in the face when he was attempting to arrest Gladys Nebriga during the protest outside the mayor's house. While the suspect resisted arrest, "other protesters punched and kicked Sgt. Reiser," a police report said. 

While another officer attempted to handcuff Nebrigia, she allegedly bit Police Officer Michael Williams on his forearm, a police report said.

Nebrigia, 31, of SW 30th St., was arrested and charged with assaulting an officer. Another protester, Elliot Hughes, 32, of the 300 block of S. Broad St., was also arrested for assaulting an officer after he allegedly tried to punch Sgt. Reiser. 

Reiser, who sustained a broken finger, was treated and released at Jefferson University Hospital. Police Officer Williams declined medical treatment.

But while the cops guarding the mayor's house were taking their lumps, the suspects accused of assaulting the police were being released on their own recognizance.

And where was the mayor?

Kenney wasn't home, sources said. And he wasn't at his girlfriend's house either.

Instead, sources said, the mayor was taking in a Phillies game. Kenney watched the hometown heroes lost 6-4 to the Nationals. 

Yep, whenever Kenney and/or his fiancee goes out to a sporting event, or to a restaurant, or down the shore to visit his gal pal's condo in Margate, they're chauffeured around in a city-owned SUV by the mayor's private security detail.  

City officials declined to offer any details about the mayor's whereabouts, or the disturbance outside his home.

"As a matter of security, we're not commenting on this," wrote Kevin Lessard, deputy communications director in the mayor's office, in an email. 

Lessard also declined to give out any figures on how much the city is paying for Kenney's security detail. But he did suggest that Big Trial should file a right-to-know request to find out how much the detail is costing taxpayers.

Thanks, Kevin, we'll take your advice.

Meanwhile, homicides this year were up to 316 as of Tuesday, a 30% increase over last year's near-record pace of 499 murders. At rate the city will set an all-time record with 648 murders. 

Kenney's security detail is working around the clock at a time when the police budget has been basically frozen for the second consecutive year in a row, after 14 City Council members last year voted against a $14 million increase for police spending for the 2022 fiscal year.

The $5.2 billion city budget for 2022 passed by the City Council includes $727 million for police. That police budget represents a 2.4% decrease in funding as a share of the city's general operating budget when compared to 2016.

But at least Mayor Kenney and his gal pal are safe wherever they go.