PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Police Department doesn't conduct formal evaluations of its main patrol and crime-fighting strategy, creating an inconsistent patchwork of officer deployment across the city as it's in the midst of a persistent gun violence crisis.
And the department, which has been plagued for more than a year by severe understaffing, doesn't know how many positions it needs to meet its public safety goals.
That's according to City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, whose office on Tuesday released a long-awaited audit of the Police Department and its nearly $800 million budget. The year-and-a-half-long review identified flaws across the department, including haphazard deployment too often based on gut decisions; outdated systems and technology; and a trend of using sworn, armed officers to perform administrative work.
