👮 Philly sheriff denies mismanagement allegations

👮 Sheriff Bilal Says Media, Watchdogs, Politicians Unfairly & Dishonestly Going After Her

The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office has been under so much fire that one elected official has said he wants the office abolished altogether. Now the office is pushing back against criticism on everything from security lapses to financial mismanagement. Sheriff Rochelle Bilal sat down with City Cast Philly host Trenae Nuri to explain the inner workings of the Sheriff’s Office, argue that challenges pre-date her tenure, and describe allegations from the media as mere axe-grinding. [🎧City Cast Philly]

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The holiday weekend ended in tragedy as gunfire erupted in Fairmount Park Monday night, killing two adults and injuring nine others. Mayor Cherelle Parker responded to the violence: “We will not be held hostage by anyone who decides that they want to get assault-like, war-like weaponry.” Police said they are searching for at least three suspects. [🔒 The Inquirer]

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Have you ever wondered how you’d celebrate your 100th birthday? Bernice Rosalind Eugenie Sebastian has been there, done that. The Germantown resident is 111 years old and is currently the 20th oldest person in the country. [Germantown Info Hub]

Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal is under more scrutiny than any elected official in Philly, fending off a wave of damning news stories about her office’s operations.

Sheriff’s deputies transport prisoners, provide courtroom security, and host public auctions of foreclosed properties. But over the last few years, The Philadelphia Inquirer has found that some of these functions have not been properly handled by Bilal, who was first elected in 2019. The Inquirer has reported on a surge in security incidents at understaffed courthouses, alleged misspending despite a request for a huge budgetary increase, and, most recently, a civilian employee accidentally firing a gun inside the office.

Due in part to these stories, calls to abolish the Sheriff’s Office have come from government watchdog groups and elected officials alike. In an April interview with City Cast Philly, State Rep. Jared Solomon, who like Bilal is a Democrat, called the office “a mess.” The Committee of Seventy nonprofit has been similarly critical, saying the department has had scandals going back to the 1980s.

Bilal denies the accusations and said the office is being attacked with mistruths by a newspaper with a vendetta and watchdogs that don’t have their facts straight. In an interview with City Cast Philly, Bilal said she takes pride in accomplishments such as modernizing technology in the office, maintaining core responsibilities amid staff shortages, and guiding a department that was already hobbled when she arrived.

Here’s a preview of City Cast Philly host Trenae Nuri’s conversation with Sheriff Bilal.

How do you respond to the criticism that you’ve been facing?

“All those that are trying to criticize this office never sat down and had a conversation with me here, never came in and said: ‘What are you doing here? What are the things you are facing?’ And as a newly elected official, never offered to assist, to help build this organization to the 21st century.

“ Your source is a media outlet that basically is mad. Because when I came in here, what I ran on was not spending $7.5 million on advertising [sheriff's sales in the newspaper] ... I streamlined all the advertising we was doing and I cut that down. And The Inquirer and Daily News does not get the sheriff's sale advertisements because they didn't want to cut [the advertising cost] down and they wanted to keep it as it was. And we wasn't doing that. So they don't get it. So that five-point-something million dollars they used to get from here, they don't get it anymore. And so then they mad. And so the mad becomes personal. The attacks become every little thing that happens here.