Exclusive: Sharrie Williams talks 1-on-1 with Philadelphia's next police commissioner
Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker and Kevin Bethel, the future police commissioner, are appearing together for the first time.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker formally announced Wednesday that she's tapped Kevin Bethel as Philadelphia's next police commissioner.
Ahead of the official announcement, Parker and Bethel joined Action News' Sharrie Williams for an exclusive interview to discuss the future of the department and plans for fighting crime.
"As the mayor of this city, this police commissioner will have my wholehearted support," said the mayor-elect.
FULL INTERVIEW: Kevin Bethel opens up about leading the Philadelphia Police Department
Parker and Bethel are both Philadelphians, but only began to personally know each other through this process, which started in Parker's backyard back in July when she held informal interviews for the city's next top cop.
SEE ALSO: Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker names Kevin Bethel as Philadelphia's new police commissioner
"I had to stop and take a moment. It's been a long journey. I'm just blessed and fortunate that the mayor chose me to lead and execute her plan," said Bethel.
"After this process, I realized that Kevin Bethel understood the necessity, the sense of urgency that a balanced approach in the area of public safety. But him also understanding that we can't have a sense of lawlessness in the city of Philadelphia," said Parker.
Since 2019, Bethel has served as the Chief of School Safety for The School District of Philadelphia. He also served in the Philadelphia Police Department for 29 years, and served as Deputy Police Commissioner of Patrol Operations for the last eight years before retiring from the force.
Bethel is fully aware that recruiting and morale within the department have to be addressed.
"I will be taking a hard look at our staffing across the city of Philadelphia. I ran operations, so I know where the bodies are buried and I'm going to find them because we have to move to the front line and support those men and women out in the field," said Bethel.
"Many of these officers feel they are hated and not respected and no one cares about them, but it's just not true. The community says I want police in my community, I want constitutional policing, I want good policing. So part of my job is yeah, I'm going to be a champion for them, but also bring the community in to help build them up as it related to their morale," he added.
While crime is trending down, carjackings are three-and-half times higher than four years ago, the number of children shot is up 50% since 2019 and in the last year, only 38% of homicides have ended in an arrest.
"What are we going to do about that feeling of safety and restoring it back to the citizens of this city," asked Sharrie Williams.
"We have a phenomenal Philadelphia Police Department, but we really have to reset to get back to being crime fighters, that is what we are built to do. And to your point to keeping this city safe, it's going to take a lot of work. We did not get here overnight, it's going to take a lot of work, the support of the mayor and many of the stakeholders out here. We have to have hope," said Bethel. "I'm a little old school when it comes to being tough and understanding that it's unacceptable. I have a very strong passion about guns and the impact guns have on our community, and what it does and how it destroys our community. So there is no wiggle room in that space."
