PHILADELPHIA — Two years after freezing spending on police in response to the killing of George Floyd, Philadelphia City Council leaders are backing a plan that would steer millions in new funding to the department and add more officers.
The plan by Majority Leader Cherelle Parker, which is supported by Council President Darrell Clarke and at least four other council members, comes in addition to a $23.7 million increase Mayor Jim Kenney is proposing for the Police Department.
Unveiling their 17-page proposal a day before Kenney is to deliver his annual budget address, the group of councilmembers cited the ongoing gun violence crisis as a reason to “shore up our police force and restore a sense of public safety and civil order in our communities.”
