DV Journal

(This column first appeared in Broad + Liberty)

A deadly January 24, 2025, car chase and armed standoff at a Bensalem gas station serve as yet another example of how Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s policies continue to endanger both law enforcement and the public.

Court records show that the standoff that resulted in the fatal shooting of Zachiry Derrek Kerschner was entirely avoidable, had the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office followed lawful protocols to properly ensure that repeat offenders on release for recent offenses remain behind bars where the law dictated they should be. Instead, Kerschner, a convicted felon with a history of firearms offenses, was allowed to remain free despite a legally mandated prison sentence.

His unlawful release and subsequent lack of supervision set the stage for the dangerous confrontation that unfolded in neighboring Bucks County, where Philadelphians have relocated to escape the lawlessness of Krasner’s policies.

A Preventable Threat to Public Safety

On the afternoon of January 24, Bensalem Police attempted a routine traffic stop on Kerschner’s vehicle near Route 1 and Old Lincoln Highway. Rather than comply, Kerschner refused to exit the vehicle and declared he was armed and would not return to jail. Over the next 35 minutes, he led law enforcement on a high-speed chase across multiple jurisdictions before barricading himself inside his vehicle at a gas station.

For two hours, officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, deploying negotiation tactics and even involving Kerschner’s loved ones in an attempt to secure his peaceful surrender. Despite these efforts, Kerschner remained defiant, brandishing a firearm and repeatedly stating his refusal to be taken into custody. The standoff ended only when Kerschner pointed a loaded weapon at officers, forcing them to respond with deadly force.

“Anytime officers are required to use deadly force is a tragic situation, and the fatal officer involved shooting in Bensalem Township on January 24, 2025 is no exception.” said William McVey, Bensalem Police Director “However, what is more disturbing is the fact that the deceased, Derrek Kerschner, never should have been on the street that day. Kerschner was a felon, convicted in the City of Philadelphia, for illegally possessing a gun in February of 2024. The fact that he only served three months of his sentence in prison then was released is inexcusable, and due to this failure of justice, Kerschner was back on the streets of Bensalem with two illegal guns in his possession.”

Krasner’s Policies: A Pattern of Negligence

An investigation by Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn revealed a disturbing chain of events that directly linked Kerschner’s release to policies implemented by DA Larry Krasner’s office.

Kerschner had been arrested in Philadelphia in February 2024 for felony gun possession — a crime that should have resulted in a sentence of at least five years in state prison, according to Pennsylvania sentencing guidelines. Instead, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office negotiated a plea agreement that allowed Kerschner to receive an 11.5-to-23-month sentence. Even more egregiously, he was released after serving only three months.

This failure in prosecutorial responsibility meant that Kerschner, who was legally required to be incarcerated on the day of the Bensalem incident, was instead free to commit further crimes. As covered by Broad + Liberty in 2022, Krasner’s office has consistently failed to request hearings to revoke bail and almost never requests the remand of probation, parole, or bail violators back to prison. At the time of his fatal encounter with police, Kerschner was actively violating parole conditions, carrying illegal firearms, and using illicit drugs, which raises the question of why Krasner’s office allowed him to be on the street in the first place.

Systemic Failures and Dangerous Consequences

The investigation into Kerschner’s release highlighted further alarming issues within Philadelphia’s criminal justice system under Krasner. Not only was Kerschner prematurely released, but his parole conditions were woefully inadequate. His court-imposed supervision failed to address his known substance abuse issues, and his electronic monitoring device lacked GPS capabilities. In short, the oversight meant to keep high-risk individuals like Kerschner in check was virtually nonexistent.

Moreover, both the Philadelphia Department of Adult Probation and Parole and Pennsylvania Department of Corrections were found to be severely overburdened, underpaid, undertrained, and without arrest authority for many of its officers –  making it impossible to properly supervise repeat offenders independently of a vigilant District Attorney’s office. This reality was well-known, yet Krasner’s office continued to advocate for leniency in sentencing, ignoring the systemic failures that allowed violent criminals to remain at large.

Law Enforcement Left to Clean Up the Mess

The consequences of these policies extend beyond repeat offenders like Kerschner—they directly endanger law enforcement officers who are forced to deal with individuals who should never have been released in the first place. The five officers involved in the Bensalem standoff were placed in immediate, life-threatening danger because of a failure by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to enforce the law as written.

“Everyday law enforcement officers put their lives on the line when they go out and perform their duties.” said McVey “What should have been a simple traffic stop ended in tragedy. Kerschner should have been behind bars that evening, not roaming the streets unsupervised with a gun.”

Schorn rightfully concluded that the officers acted in self-defense and were legally justified in using deadly force. Their actions were consistent with law enforcement best practices, and they exhausted all reasonable means to resolve the situation peacefully. However, these officers should never have been put in such a position to begin with. “It’s a miracle that no officers or innocent civilians lost their lives that evening and I commend our officers for the actions they took to mitigate the risk during a chaotic incident.”

Holding the Philadelphia DA’s Office Accountable

Kerschner’s case is far from an isolated incident — it is emblematic of a broader trend of prosecutorial negligence that has plagued Philadelphia under Larry Krasner’s leadership. His office’s failure to request the remand of repeat offenders and its continued push for lenient sentencing have created a revolving door of criminality, where violent offenders face minimal consequences and return to the streets to commit further crimes.

“Police officers and society deserve to have a justice system that ensures the safety of everyone.” said McVey  “Unfortunately, this does not appear to be occurring in Philadelphia, making policing that much more dangerous for the whole region.  Allowing convicted, violent felons to serve little to no time only puts everyone at risk.”

The Bensalem standoff serves as a stark reminder that policies designed to reduce incarceration at all costs do not equate to justice. Instead, they jeopardize public safety, burden surrounding jurisdictions, and endanger the very officers tasked with maintaining law and order. If meaningful reform is to occur, there must be accountability for those responsible for creating these dangerous conditions.

As Bucks County has demonstrated, enforcing the law and ensuring that violent criminals remain incarcerated is not just a matter of policy: it is a matter of life and death. Philadelphia’s leadership must recognize the real-world consequences of its prosecutorial decisions before more lives are put at risk.

Taking aim at liberal Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, Rep. Craig Williams (R-Delaware/Chester) reintroduced legislation that would allow the state to step in when the progressive prosecutor refuses to pursue gun crimes committed on his watch.

Williams’s legislation would give Pennsylvania’s attorney general concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute prior-convicted felons in possession of guns stemming from arrests in the city of Philadelphia. It is both a federal and state crime for a prior-convicted felon to possess a gun.

The legislation establishes a Gun Violence Task Force (GVTF) to coordinate enforcement efforts between the Office of Attorney General, U.S. Attorney’s Office (Eastern District of Pennsylvania), Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, and local and federal law enforcement agencies. The GVTF structure was previously negotiated with the Attorney General’s Office and leadership from both parties in 2022

“Between 2018 and 2024, more than 12,000 people were shot in Philadelphia, with nearly 2,500 of those shootings proving fatal,” said Williams. “We must bring the full weight of law enforcement to combat this crisis. This legislation creates a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force with direct prosecutorial authority to remove violent felons from our streets.”

Data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency highlights Philadelphia’s alarming gun violence problem:

• The average assault by firearm rate is 259 per 100,000 residents—more than four times the state average.
• The average robbery by firearm rate is 187 per 100,000 residents—again, four times higher than the state average.

In a recent 90-day period (November 14, 2024, through February 12, 2025), 933 aggravated assaults and 678 robberies were committed with a firearm, according to the Philadelphia Police Department’s Crime Statistics Map.

Under Williams’ bill, law enforcement agencies must report every illegal gun possession arrest of a prior convicted felon to the GVTF. The task force, including the attorney general and U.S. attorney, would then determine whether to assert jurisdiction over the case based on the severity of charges and the defendant’s criminal history.

Additionally, the attorney general must submit an annual report to the House and Senate Appropriations and Judiciary Committees detailing arrests, prosecutions, convictions, sentences, and expenditures related to GVTF operations.

Krasner recently announced he is seeking a third term. He faces a challenger in the Democratic primary, Patrick Dugan, a former judge. Previously, the state House impeached Krasner. Williams, a former federal prosecutor, had served as impeachment manager. However, the state Supreme Court scotched that case before it could be tried before the state Senate.

“This legislation sends a clear message: We will not allow lawlessness to continue in Philadelphia,” said Williams. “The violence of Philadelphia impacts all of the collar counties, and the consequences of non-prosecution are being felt as far away as Somerset County. We must meet violent criminals with the full weight, force and strength of our laws.

District Attorney Larry Krasner, one of the nation’s most progressive prosecutors, announced Tuesday that, despite his controversial career, he’s seeking a third term.

And that may create a headache for his fellow Keystone State Democrats.

Krasner was first elected Philadelphia’s DA in 2017, part of a class of far-left prosecutors helped into office with significant financial backing from progressive billionaire George Soros. The Soros “Open Society Foundation” has given millions to promote the “defund the police” movement, as well as efforts to lower or eliminate cash bail and promote “decarceration”– lowering the prison population.

In his announcement, Krasner took a swipe at Republican President Donald Trump, saying that in addition to being a district attorney, he would be a “democracy advocate” and hold the president accountable.

“There’s a couple of wannabe oligarchs and a there’s wannabe dictator who are going to figure out there’s more of us than of them. And they have a problem. Here’s the reality. We are going to win. This is like a disease. The fever is going to break. And when that fever breaks, we are going to be there to make sure this country continues on its course.”

Krasner pledged to continue his efforts to keep those charged and convicted of crimes from serving time in jail, including “expanding alternatives to prosecution,” “ending overly punitive sentences,” and “continuing the effort to end money bail and expand pre-trial release.”

Those may be popular ideas in urban Philadelphia, but Krasner’s campaign could add to the GOP’s narrative that Democrats are soft on crime. Political professionals expect Krasner’s name to be invoked by Republicans in campaigns from judgeships to local offices, the same way Democrats use Trump’s name in local races.

Krasner points to the crime rate as proof his approach is the right one.

“As of this morning, we have the lowest number of homicides in the last 15 years,” he said. Last year, there was the largest percent  reduction in homicides “in Philadelphia history.”

Former Judge Patrick Dugan

“We led the nation in big cities in terms of improvements in public safety,” he said. As of Tuesday, there were 27 homicides in Philadelphia. By the same day last year, there were 41.

Last year, there were 269 homicides. The year before he took office, it was 315,  he said.

Krasner is facing a formidable opponent in the May 20 Democratic primary: former Philadelphia Municipal Court President Judge Patrick Dugan. Dugan is a decorated former Army paratrooper who served in the 82nd Airborne Infantry. He also served as an Army JAG officer, retiring as a captain.

Dugan told DVJournal, “For the last seven years under District Attorney Larry Krasner, Philadelphia has seen nearly 2.900 homicides and nearly 10,000 shootings. This is a direct result of his 70 percent case withdrawal rate at times and the lowest gun conviction rates in decades.

“Larry claims he has made us safer. But the data shows that it is not the reality we live in every day. Larry is correct that murders are down right now for the year. But what he’s not saying is total violent crime is up over 50 percent, aggravated assaults are up 67 percent, robberies with a gun are up 42 percent, robberies without a gun are up 59 percent, and auto thefts are up 35 percent.

“People have not felt safe across our city for a very long time,” said Dugan. “Retail theft is up over 60 percent. Businesses and retail workers have not felt safe under his disastrous retail theft policies that have forced many Wawa, Rite Aid, CVS stores and many small businesses out of our city.

“I am running for DA to bring a more balanced approach to justice by holding criminals accountable, investing in proven diversion programs, and rebuilding geographical divisions in the office that will communicate often with victims and the community. I look forward to debating Larry on our very different approaches on public safety,” Dugan said.

Dugan received endorsements from numerous labor unions. However, the Philadelphia Democratic Party declined to endorse a DA candidate in the primary this year, which was seen as a snub to the incumbent.

A Democratic strategist told DVJournal on background that his party is open to an alternative.

“With all due respect to District Attorney Krasner, Philadelphia residents have lost their confidence in his ability to keep them safe. They’re looking for someone new who is willing to take a more assertive approach to prosecuting crime and putting criminals in jail. There may have been a time when Krasner’s approach was well-received, but that time has passed.”

And political consultant Jeff Jubelirer, with Bellevue Communications said, “Some Democrats want to support (and/or defend) Krasner. And some Democrats want to retire him from office. Statewide, I’d expect many would be in favor of Philadelphia having a new DA that would work in collaboration with them as well as bring a better sense of collegiality.

“I believe with county races that voters are focused hyper-locally. Thus I don’t sense that a Philadelphia DA’s race would have much impact on the race in Bucks County. I think [Bucks County DA Jennifer] Schorn is in a strong position to retain the seat and that she will also receive support from across party lines,” added Jubelirer.

Krasner was impeached by the state House. However, the state Supreme Court dismissed the impeachment last year before the state Senate could hold a trial.

Rep. Craig Williams (R-Chester/Delaware), a former federal prosecutor, served as impeachment manager.

Williams said, “Actual data shows that Philadelphia remains a dangerous place. According to the most recent report by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the rate of assault by firearm is 259 per 100,000 residents and robbery by firearm is 187 per 100,000 residents. That is more than four times higher than the state average.

“Over a recent 90-day period (November 14, 2024 to February 12, 2025), there were 933 aggravated assaults committed with a firearm and 678 robberies with a firearm in Philadelphia, according to the Philadelphia Police. It is clear that Larry Krasner has no intent on making Philadelphia safe. Enforcing our criminal code with rigor does not appear to be his priority. And the violence he sows in the city impacts our entire region.

“That is why I am reintroducing my bill to give the Pennsylvania Attorney General concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute felon-in-possession of firearms cases. My bill also creates a multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency task force to handle all illegal gun-possession cases with the Department of Justice. My hope is that a committed attorney general and United States Attorney for the Philadelphia region will prosecute criminals that Larry Krasner would otherwise release. We fight crime through strength, not apathetic progressivism,” Williams said.