DV Journal

Testimony before the House Select Committee investigating crime in Philadelphia turned away from personal stories and toward data and policy Friday. It was a sharp contrast with Thursday’s emotional stories from families who lost loved ones to homicide.

Witnesses linked the city’s decrease in firearms convictions since 2018 with progressive District Attorney Larry Krasner’s decision to withdraw his office from the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association that same year.

Mark Bergstrom, executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, presented the data-rich Comprehensive Study of Violations of Pennsylvania’s Uniform Firearms Act (VUFA). From 2015 to 2020, the study examined arrests and convictions over firearms charges, misdemeanor, and felony charges, with or without additional violence charges.

Bergstrom noted that unlike the other 66 counties in Pennsylvania, all charges in Philadelphia must be approved by the district attorney’s office. As the state’s lone first-class county, it is responsible for over a third of all VUFA dockets. More than half of those are co-charged with violent offenses. The number of VUFA dockets filed, especially those with first or second-degree felony charges, has risen since Krasner took office in 2018. The downward trend from 2015 to 2017 of violent offenses accompanying VUFA dockets reversed from 2018 to 2020.

While the study found statewide guilty verdicts have dropped in the timeframe, the sharpest decline in rates appears to be from Philadelphia. Krasner’s office has seen conviction rates on VUFA charges with first or second-degree felony drop from 88 percent convicted in 2015 to 69 percent in 2019 and 64 percent in 2020. Overall, the VUFA conviction rate in the city is 77 percent in the timeframe studied, trailing the statewide average of 83 percent.

The increase in cases dismissed or withdrawn by prosecutors has been driving down the conviction rate in Philadelphia. The city’s acquittal rates and been rejected by the district attorney’s office, which covers cases withdrawn after the initial filing, are higher than the state averages. The “nolle pros” dispositions rate has jumped from 7 percent in 2015 to 21 percent in 2020.

In reviewing sentences, Bergstrom’s data refuted some of Krasner’s previous claims of securing longer prison terms.

Krasner’s office has secured a lower rate of  VUFA sentences that fall within the state’s sentencing guidelines (28 percent) than statewide (43 percent). Philadelphia also saw more cases fall below the sentencing guidelines (34 percent) than statewide (25 percent). However, Philadelphia saw 5 percent of cases each at the aggravated and Above levels, each above the statewide levels.

Bergstrom described the pattern as “extreme on both ends.” Philadelphia also has higher recidivism rates for VUFA charges within three years.

Bergstrom noted the laws are not consistently enforced across counties at times. “The use of the laws can be spotty,” he said, referring to one VUFA that wasn’t being charged when available or dropped as part of plea bargains.

“Before we start thinking about changing the law, let’s make sure we use it with fidelity, when possible, and make sure it’s not being negotiated away,” he said.

Greg Rowe, executive director of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, called Krasner’s decision to pull Philadelphia from the organization “unusual.”

“At the time, the DA told the media that our policies that we support were too punitive and too focused on incarceration. We would obviously disagree on that.”

Rep. Martina White (R-Philadelphia) was pleased with the conduct of the hearing.

“Today was more about the facts. [Bergstrom’s testimony] was very valuable because it provided us intimate details as to the process of the violation of our Uniform Firearms Act,” White said. “What I learned is Philadelphia has three times more gun crime cases that are being withdrawn than anywhere else in the state, and it looks like those types of cases, the offenders, the criminals, are more likely to re-offend.”

The committee has not announced further public hearings.

Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal

Pennsylvania progressives are circling the wagons around one of their own as a bipartisan committee prepares to convene Thursday to consider his impeachment.

The bipartisan state House Select Committee is expected to hear testimony from witnesses regarding the impeachment of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner at the Navy Yard on Thursday and Friday.

The crime data on Krasner’s watch aren’t in dispute. Last year, there were a record 562 homicides in the city, and as of September 26, another 400 people were murdered this year. Both elected officials and city residents have demanded action. Many blame Krasner’s progressive policies — he’s been called “Philly cops’ worst enemy” — for the rising tide of crime.

Committee members have been asked not to comment publicly about the hearings, said David Foster, a spokesperson for the House Republicans. Krasner’s political allies, however, have been outspoken.

The Working Families Party, a left-wing political organization that endorses candidates at the state and local level, announced Friday it is pulling its endorsements from Democrats like state Reps. Danilo Burgos and Nancy Guenst who voted to condemn Krasner for not responding to the House Select Committee’s subpoena.

And the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity joined a group of legislative Democrats last week to rally on behalf of Krasner, despite the fact people of color have disproportionally been victims of violent crime under Krasner.

“This is directly connected to a historical legacy of people trying to take the votes of Black people right out of our hands,” said the Rev. Mark Kelly Taylor, pastor of Mother Bethel A.M.E Church. “If we sit back silently and Larry Krasner is impeached successfully no elected official within the city of Philadelphia is safe in the future.”

Krasner released a statement Monday calling the bipartisan effort “a bad faith, unconstitutional attempt to overturn the 2021 election over my office’s policies of evenly applied and equal accountability for all who criminally cause harm to our communities.”

State Rep. Martina White (R-Philadelphia) is not on the committee, but she has been very outspoken about crime and Krasner’s record. She laid the blame for the hearings at his feet.

“District Attorney Larry Krasner was given ample opportunity to work with the committee but was found in contempt for not complying with a lawful subpoena,” said White.  “This committee is holding fact-finding hearings in Philadelphia and Mr. Krasner’s efforts to instigate his most radical supporters to disrupt the committee’s hearings will not be tolerated or successful.

“Victims of crime who have suffered due to the actions and inaction of the district attorney will not be silenced any longer,” White said. “Whistleblowers should have every right to come forward. What is Larry Krasner hiding?”

White previously led a group of Philadelphia crime victims to Harrisburg to protest Krasner’s lack of prosecution and to press lawmakers to do something.

In his public statement, Krasner also complained about the hearings being held at the Navy Yard which, he says, are inconvenient for city residents to attend.

A spokeswoman for Krasner did not respond to a request for comment.

Before his re-election in 2021, Krasner spoke to the Delaware Valley Journal, blaming the spiking crime rate on the COVID-19 pandemic. And as for statistics on increased gun charges being filed but fewer defendants convicted, Krasner blamed the circumstances of cases that are not provable “beyond a reasonable doubt,” giving an example of five people in a car with a gun in the trunk.

“You have to look at these on a case-by-case basis,” Krasner said.

Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal