PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s controversial landlord-tenant office has agreed to suspend evictions. The move comes after a second shooting by one of its officers.
Court spokesman Martin O’Rourke says the suspension is open-ended. “The suspension of all lockouts will remain in effect until the landlord-tenant officer is confident that all of her officers are appropriately trained in de-escalation and use of force,” he explained.
O’Rourke says landlords can continue to contract with the sheriff’s office for evictions.
In an emailed statement from her spokesman, landlord-tenant officer Marisa Shuter appears to defend her officer’s shooting of a 33-year-old Port Richmond woman during an eviction. She says the victim assaulted the property manager and threatened her officer with a knife before he shot and struck the woman in the leg.
However, Shuter says she supports the initiative for new training.
The move comes a day after an officer shot a 33-year-old woman he was trying to evict in Port Richmond — and less than four months after another officer shot a woman in the head during an eviction. Last month, an officer opened fire on a pit bull.
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Councilwoman Jaime Gauthier says the suspension is a good idea but it’s just the start.
“We need more transparency around who these contractors are, which officers have been involved in shootings and just a lot more accountability to the public,” urged Gauthier, “because they’re holding the public’s well-being in their hands.”
The landlord-tenant office is a private, for-profit agency. In the wake of the shootings and other complaints, Pennsylvania state Sen. Nikil Saval has been trying to eliminate it.
“We should bring Philadelphia in line with other jurisdictions where the act of eviction is performed by a public official,” said Saval. “I don’t think this should be an option that is available to landlords.”
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