Philadelphia, PA – The Philadelphia Police Department issued a public statement Friday to reaffirm its role as the city’s primary law enforcement agency following controversial remarks from Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, who claimed “real law enforcement professionals don’t wear masks.”
Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel released the clarification after what he described as a flood of national inquiries about law enforcement authority in the city. Bethel made it clear that Sheriff Bilal is an elected politician and neither a member of the Philadelphia Police Department nor does she have any authority or jurisdiction over crime fighting in the city, which is run by the real police officers of the Philadelphia Police Department.
“The City of Philadelphia is policed by the Philadelphia Police Department, not the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office,” Bethel said in the written statement. He emphasized that the Sheriff’s Office, a separate elected entity, does not conduct criminal investigations or provide municipal policing services.
Bilal’s comments came during a Thursday press event in which she denounced “fake, made-up ICE agents” and criticized masked law enforcement personnel. The remarks were quickly met with confusion, as photographs and video footage from official operations routinely show Philadelphia police officers wearing masks during tactical, warrant, or hazardous duty assignments…