Philadelphia police department FIRES its first ever diversity, equity and inclusion officer just HOURS before a new commissioner and mayor take office promising to restore …
- Mayor Cherelle Parker was sworn into office on January 2
- Then-acting Police Commissioner John Stanford fired DEI officer Leslie Marant, 57, who commenced her role in April 2022, at a meeting Tuesday morning
- Marant was informed by Stanford that her services were no longer required under the restructuring led by the incoming commissioner, Kevin Bethel
By Noa Halff For Dailymail.Com[1]
Published: 21:03, 5 January 2024 | Updated: 21:03, 5 January 2024
Philadelphia’s police department fired its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) officer, just hours before a new commissioner and mayor assumed office, vowing to restore ‘lawfulness.’
The then-acting Police Commissioner John Stanford terminated DEI officer Leslie Marant, 57, who commenced her role in April 2022 at a meeting Tuesday morning.
Marant was informed by Stanford that her services were no longer required under the restructuring led by the incoming commissioner, Kevin Bethel.
The exact reasons for Marant’s dismissal, with a base salary of £170,568, was not disclosed, and the department has yet to provide further details.
Despite Marant’s departure, the DEI position will remain vacant as the department plans a national search for her successor, citing common organizational restructuring under new leadership.
Marant (pictured) was informed by Stanford that her services were no longer required under the restructuring led by the incoming commissioner, Kevin Bethel
The then-acting Police Commissioner John Stanford (pictured) terminated DEI officer Leslie Marant, 57, who commenced her role in April 2022 at a meeting Tuesday morning
Mayor Cherelle Parker and former Mayor Jim Kenney,left, take part in inauguration ceremonies Tuesday, Jan.
2, 2024 in Philadelphia
‘Under new leadership, restructuring and realignment of an organization is common,’ Sgt. Eric Gipp told Philadelphia Inquirer.
This came just hours before Democrat[2] Cherelle Parker, 51, who became the city’s first Black and female mayor, signed an executive order declaring a public safety emergency.
‘I want the world to know that I am fully committed to ending this sense of lawlessness and bringing order back to our city and a sense of lawfulness,’ she said in a speech.
She promised on the campaign trail to hire 300 more police officers, including community officers, and restore ‘constitutional’ stop-and-frisk. She also put forth the idea of making school year-round, to reduce juvenile delinquency.
Her plans will include increasing the number of police officers on the streets with a focus on community policing – a policy she championed when on the city council.
Parker said that her Public Safety Emergency will ‘expeditiously get every available resource into neighborhoods struggling with the scourges of crime, gun violence, drugs, and addiction.’
She said her new police commissioner, Kevin Bethel, has been tasked with creating plans for those crises and for quality-of-life crimes including car theft, shoplifting and illegal ATV use.
Cherelle Parker, the newly sworn-in 100th mayor of Philadelphia, delivers her inauguration address during the ceremony on Tuesday
Parker is seen swearing in the new police commissioner for Philadelphia, Kevin Bethel, on Tuesday
Philadelphia has seen rampant crime in recent years, with violent offenses like robberies and aggravated assaults with guns rising above pre-pandemic levels. [3]
Just yesterday, a Philadelphia man was pushed onto the subway tracks[4] and fatally struck by an oncoming train just days after the city’s new mayor vowed to crack down on crime.
The man was brawling with another male on the SEPTA platform around 4:30 pm on Thursday when tragedy struck at the 34th street station.
Bystander video footage caught the tragic moment unfold as one of the men punched the other, sending him stumbling onto the tracks.
Just moments later, a SEPTA train on the Market-Frankford Line arrived at the platform and killed the man.
A SEPTA spokesperson confirmed that the man throwing punches in the video has been taken into custody – but it remains unclear whether he will be facing charges.
The person killed is yet to be identified, but a user on X claims that both of the two men involved are ‘known to SEPTA police’.
Retired Sgt.
Mark Fusetti said on X: ‘These two men are known to Septa police.
‘They are homeless and live in the subways. They’re called, by Septa, destination-less riders.’
A Philadelphia man was pushed onto the subway tracks and fatally struck by an oncoming train just days after the city’s new mayor vowed to crack down on crime
Bystander video footage caught the tragic moment unfold as one of the men punched the other, sending him stumbling onto the tracks
Kensington, which up until the 1950s was a bustling industrial district, is now described by The Philadelphia Inquirer as ‘the poorest neighborhood in America’s poorest big city’
Exclusive pictures of Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood reveal a shocking scene of drug devastation with addicts injecting themselves in broad daylight
‘They take the EL & Subway all day and night. They use the trains as toilets and beds.
This in another crime that could’ve been prevented if Septa didn’t allow them to live in their trains.’
‘Officers there as guardians and not warriors, getting to know the people they are sworn to protect and serve,’ she said on Tuesday night, during her inaugural address.
Parker takes over a city where violent crime is declining – homicides are down by more than 20 percent year on year, and non-fatal shootings are down 28 percent.
But Philadelphia in 2020 and 2021 had the grim reputation as one of America’s most dangerous cities, with more than 500 murders each year – significantly more than New York, which is five times as large.
And theft on Philadelphia is rocketing, with reported vehicle theft up 72 percent.
Retail theft is also soaring, and has risen 28 percent in the last year.