Philly’s police brass, city lawyers are outmatched dealing with problem cops; A possible cancer link to Philly schools | Morning Newsletter
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You may want to keep an umbrella handy today, Philly; there’s a chance of rain in the forecast. And, in the Philadelphia Police Department, there’s a healthy chance the firing or discipline of a misbehaving officer will be overturned in arbitration, an Inquirer analysis found. Obtaining and reviewing 170 previously confidential police arbitration opinions and settlements from 2011 to 2019, the Inquirer’s analysis of the once-secret records shows how the arbitration system has overturned the firings or discipline of more than 100 Philadelphia cops. In other news, a longtime teacher in South Philadelphia has mesothelioma, and officials say they are investigating a potential cancer cluster linked to asbestos problems in the city’s school district.
— Oona Goodin-Smith (@oonagoodinsmith, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
In Philadelphia, when an officer is fired or demoted for an alleged crime or misconduct, the case is brought before an arbitrator, who, after reviewing the evidence police commissioners used to fire or discipline officers, settles the dispute between the city and police union.
But while the Philadelphia Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division is capable, at times, of building thorough cases against officers who have done things that would leave an average citizen in handcuffs, the efforts sometimes aren’t enough, and the city is often outmaneuvered by police union lawyers, an Inquirer analysis found.
The Inquirer obtained 170 previously confidential police arbitration opinions and settlements from 2011 to 2019, revealing the behind-the-scenes machinations that enable officers to regain their posts after they’ve been fired or demoted. Read more from those files, rarely made public, here.
A longtime city educator has mesothelioma — a type of cancer most often caused by asbestos exposure — and now, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers officials say they are investigating a potential cancer cluster linked to widespread asbestos problems in schools across the district.
Spending more than 30 years in Philadelphia classrooms, the recently diagnosed teacher has worked at Meredith and Nebinger elementary schools in South Philadelphia, both of which have been flagged for cleanup. Nebinger was one of 19 city schools where teachers and staff tested surfaces for asbestos fibers as part of The Inquirer’s “Toxic City: Sick Schools” series, and was one of seven schools designated for emergency cleanup by the district last year after The Inquirer discovered high levels of asbestos fibers in settled dust there.
In total, union officials said 175 schools, the majority of Philadelphia School District buildings, have asbestos that needs remediation.
Relaxed parking enforcement: it’s a time-honored courtesy during religious services in Philadelphia, allowing the faithful to park near their house of worship, and a practice religious institutions say is necessary to retain congregants who may have moved to the suburbs.
But for cyclists who say their safety is compromised when their bike lanes become parking spaces for churchgoers, the policy evokes nothing short of fire and brimstone.
What you need to know today
The top Democratic presidential primary candidates will square off in Houston tonight for the third Democratic debate of the season, and we’ll have live coverage at inquirer.com. Between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, here’s how some voters said they’ll decide between the two liberal New England senators.
Vice President Mike Pence visited the Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County yesterday, paying tribute to the lives lost aboard the plane on Sept. 11, 2001. In Philadelphia, 18 years after the attacks, the poignant words of Hall of Fame Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas still ring true today.
If the projections are correct, it is not a question of whether the northeastern U.S. will see another heat wave like the one that killed 118 Philadelphians in 1993. It’s a question of when.
After Penn’s new leader of counseling and psychological services died by suicide this week, students and faculty are searching for a path forward. Meanwhile, experts offer these suicide prevention tips for those finding themselves in crisis.
Was a 2013 shooting of a Philly cop intentional or accidental? That’s the question jurors will answer in a Feltonville man’s retrial.
Citing state law, a Bucks County judge has significantly reduced the bail for nine people charged with operating a massive, $8 million-a-week heroin production center inside a suburban home. Most of the suspects are now held on as little as $1.
Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly
It’s all about perspective. 🏙️Thanks for the shot, @elevated.angles.
Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!
That’s Interesting
At 18 months old, she sang along to Jill Scott on the radio. Now, at 18 years old, this West Philly jazz singer has received a full scholarship to one of the best music schools in the world.
Get your tissues ready. The cast of NBC’s tearjerker series This Is Us was spotted filming on South Street this week, stopping at artist Isaiah Zagar’s Magic Gardens and enjoying water ice at Rita’s.
If your bag has been lost or damaged while flying American Airlines, you’re in good company. The carrier has the highest rate of mishandled baggage in the country — and at the Philadelphia airport, the problem’s even worse.
A new version of Monopoly celebrates female trailblazers, but critics say the game leaves out an important inventor: the Quaker feminist woman who created Monopoly in the first place.
Opinions
“But that bell. It shook you like a wailing lamb. Judi, from a white folding chair at the Garden of Reflection, could not bear it, either. She tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and grimaced. She opened her mouth as though exhaling, though it could also have been a mute scream. She cried. There it was: Maternal sorrow momentarily as bottomless as it was on that cloudless, shattering morning in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001.” - Columnist Maria Panaritis on why Bucks County mother and congressional candidate Judi Reiss is a model to us all.
Philadelphia’s acting police commissioner says she didn’t know wearing “L.A.P.D. We Treat You Like a King” on a T-shirt was racist, and that tells you everything, writes the Inquirer Editorial Board.
If you’re afraid that U.S. democracy won’t survive Trump, get off the sofa, get outside, and make a Hong-Kong style protest a reality, writes columnist Will Bunch.
What we’re reading
For 72 years, the Philadelphia Police Athletic League has provided free recreational activities to city children. But not all those children are treated equally, and kids from predominantly white neighborhoods are allotted more funding and charitable gifts, the organization’s former commanding officer claims in a federal lawsuit. Philadelphia magazine tells her story.
Self-driving cars promise to reduce traffic-related deaths and increase efficiency, but can they ever really prepare for life on the unpredictable open road? Take a spin through this interactive Washington Post story to see for yourself.
A Yale Law library assistant, Navy electrician, self-taught chemist, dog catcher, and a frequent visitor to the town dump, Joe Heller greeted his daughters’ dates by by running their license plate numbers and checking for bald tires. A Hartford Courant obituary captures the life and death of this one-of-a-kind Connecticut man.
A Daily Dose of | Happily Ever After
The tale of Waffles and Hemingway, the inseparable miniature horse and goose duo that captured the nation’s hearts, has a happy ending. The pair has found a forever home — together — in the Philly area.