PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A report from the Citizens Police Oversight Commission found that officers fired for misconduct are allowed back on the job 85% of the time through the city’s arbitration process.
Philadelphia police leadership has long had a problem with arbitrators overturning discipline for officers accused of misconduct. After the racial justice protests of 2020, the city negotiated a new process specifically for officers who get fired: The Police Termination Arbitration Board (PTAB).
The Oversight Commission looked at the 20 cases decided since then and found that 17 of the officers were reinstated.
“It’s not working any better than the former process,” said Tonya McClary the commission’s executive director. “This is something that has ripple effects for many communities and many stakeholders including the department itself.”
McClary says the board is supposed to consist of 10 members, with equal numbers of arbitrators picked by the city and Fraternal Order of Police, but while the FOP has its five members, the city is down to four.
A city spokesman says that’s because of a resignation in December that, under board rules, can’t be filled until October. The city disagrees with the Oversight Commission’s conclusion, saying the sample size is too small to judge. Oversight Commission’s General Counsel Catherine Twigg agrees but says it’s important to consider the results so far.
“We’re also on the eve of the new contract so we need to be able to say, should this reform be changed or not, right now,” Twigg said.