PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mayor Jim Kenney has asked the Civil Service Commission to lift a residency requirement for Philadelphia Police Department and the Department of Prisons applicants.
In 2020, the city reinstated a residency rule for police and correctional officer recruits after a 12-year absence. They had to live within the city limits for a year before applying. The goal was a more diverse group of officers, but since then, the departments have been having a hard time finding qualified officers.
Given the high vacancy rate of police and correctional officers in Philadelphia, the mayor requested a waiver, so the departments can broaden their potential pools of applicants, a city spokesman told KYW Newsradio.
A provision in the city code allows for the Civil Service Commission to grant a waiver to the resident requirement when warranted.
Now, recruits will need to establish residency within six months only after they are hired, per civil service regulations.
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Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 President John McNesby released a statement responding to the residency requirement.
“From the beginning, we opposed this silly residency requirement for new recruits. Clearly, our political leadership felt otherwise. And now during a violent-crime crisis, we’re lifting the residency requirement, which we hope will help the police department in its recruitment efforts,” McNesby said.
“It’s all hands on deck to solve an uptick in violence, and we need to do everything in our power to recruit the best and brightest to serve in our Police Department, whether they live in or outside of our great city.”