City Council asks Kenney for 15 police reforms | Morning Newsletter
Plus, Bucks County shows why contract tracing is so important.
The Morning Newsletter
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As hundreds of people, including public defenders, marched in Philadelphia yesterday, City Councilmembers sent a list of more than a dozen police reforms to Mayor Jim Kenney that focused on changes to the Philadelphia Police Department. Also, Bucks County health officials reported new coronavirus cases that all stemmed from recent Jersey Shore gatherings.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Philadelphia City Council yesterday called on Mayor Jim Kenney to enact 15 specific reforms in the city’s police department. The top issue, Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson said, is “making sure there’s a process in which, when bad cops who are held accountable are fired, they are actually fired.” Johnson’s office drafted the letter.
In Harrisburg, Democrats in the state House blocked a voting session to demand that Republicans take up police reform bills. For years, Democrats have attempted to move police-related legislation, but they have gotten nowhere as a GOP majority controls the agenda.
At least 12 Bucks County residents contracted the coronavirus at recent Jersey Shore gatherings. Each of those gatherings was attended by the same New Jersey resident who had the virus. Officials say the number of cases expected to rise.
The example highlights contract tracing as particularly important as Pennsylvania and other states are loosening coronavirus-related restrictions. Basically, it involves identifying everyone who has recently interacted with someone who has tested positive, warning those people to self-quarantine.
What you need to know today
New Jersey State Police fatally shot Maurice Gordona, a 28-year-old black man, during Memorial Day weekend. His family wants answers about how and why he was killed. The state’s attorney general said his office would be releasing recordings of the incident sometime this week. And, a lawsuit has also been filed by the family of an African American woman shot and killed by Deptford police in 2018, contending that the deadly police action was “unreasonable and unjustifiable.”
Philly police inspector Joseph Bologna Jr. is facing aggravated assault and other charges stemming from a series of viral videos that show him beating a Temple University student and antagonizing protesters during demonstrations. When he surrendered himself yesterday, more than 100 officers gathered to show support and applaud him.
Here’s what your new SEPTA commute could look like: rider limits, face masks, and blocked seats.
A new report ranks U.S. counties to compare how well they aid children. Philadelphia’s children are some of the most disadvantaged in the country when it comes to nutrition, poverty, and more.
Tucked inside the temporary Pennsylvania state budget by an anonymous member of the state House is some obscure wording that gives a pair of major Republican donors and the former head of the Pennsylvania Lottery Commission the chance to get a medical marijuana permit worth about $25 million.
The rush to spend $2.6 billion in federal coronavirus stimulus money could lead to waste and fraud in Pennsylvania.
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That’s interesting
🖥️The Wilma Theater announced it is going to stream Kill Move Paradise, a play about the killing of unarmed black people by police. The stream will benefit Black Lives Matter Philly.
🍻Atlantic City is legalizing open containers of alcohol on the Boardwalk.
🥔A giant, Pennsylvania-based snack food company is going public.
⚽How did the Philadelphia Union get some of the world’s biggest soccer stars and legends to chat over Zoom with their prospects?
🏀When the NBA resumes, the Sixers will have eight games to try to avoid playing a rival in the first round of the playoffs.
🦅According to the NFL’s re-opening protocols, the Eagles’ training complex could face some issues.
Opinions
“Mission-oriented people who are comfortable following and enforcing rules, enjoy solidarity with their peers, and who are trained and socialized by the gatekeepers. In hiring ‘themselves,’ policing as an institution has created a self-perpetuating cycle that values control, enforcement, and authority — over the protection of life — as its primary mission.” — writes Robert J. Kane, a professor and head of Drexel’s department of criminology and justice studies, about how police recruitment needs to change.
Philadelphia removed a racist statue last week. Paul M. Farber, an artistic director and senior research scholar at Penn’s design school, writes about what comes next for public art.
Inquirer Sixers beat writer Keith Pompey writes about what the Black Lives Matter movement and mass protests in Philadelphia mean to him.
What we’re reading
WHYY is sharing the stories of retiring teachers who won’t get a chance to say goodbye because of the pandemic.
The New York Times asked more than 500 epidemiologists when they expect to fly, hug, and do other activities again.
In a New Yorker Q&A, Black Lives Matter co-founder Opal Tometi explains why this time is different.
Your Daily Dose of | Milk delivery
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, a relic from the past has popped up again in the Philly suburbs: old-fashioned milk delivery.