Sheriff’s office continues to fail Philadelphians | Editorial
Under Sheriff Rochelle Bilal’s leadership, the department consistently underperforms on its basic functions, including issuing deeds after property auctions.
Over the years, the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office has faced one scandal after another — including allegations of sexual harassment and public corruption — but even in the depths of disgrace, most modern sheriffs at least tried to competently carry out their duties. Not so Rochelle Bilal.
Two years into her second term, it continues to be amateur hour at the sheriff’s office, while City Council and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker allow Bilal to fail on the job.
The most recent example: After first denying there was a problem, and then promising to address it in 2024, the department still cannot issue deeds in a timely manner after property auctions — one of the office’s basic functions.
Two companies that specialize in real estate investments have sued the office for failing to process deed transfers promptly, noting that a process that typically takes a few weeks is taking months, if not longer.
“For approximately two years since the sheriff’s sale, plaintiff is still paying ongoing taxes and preservation costs to protect the property without the benefit of legally possessing the property,” according to a complaint filed this month by the Illinois-based Amos Financial LLC.
Without a deed, property owners cannot make use of their purchase. They cannot sell, rent, transfer, or borrow against their assets — and their properties become vulnerable to squatters and vandals.
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Property deeds are hardly the only job the department has struggled to perform. The city’s financial watchdog found that under Bilal’s leadership, the office is marked by “ongoing and serious operational and financial mismanagement.”
In 2023, victims of domestic violence raised an alarm. The sheriff’s office is responsible for collecting guns from those who are the subjects of protection-from-abuse orders.
In surrounding counties, collection rates range from 45% to 61% — figures that are far from ideal, but still significantly better than Philadelphia’s 13% under Bilal.
The sheriff’s lapses are particularly concerning because, despite an 80% reduction in overall homicides since the pandemic, domestic violence killings are on the rise.
In 2024, it was judges who felt they were being placed in jeopardy by incompetence at the sheriff’s office. Bilal’s department is entrusted with assigning deputies to provide courthouse security.
After poor staffing led to a surge in violent incidents in courtrooms, judges ordered Bilal to fix a series of “systemic failures,” which created an “imminent threat to the safety and health of all persons present in the courthouses.”
Bilal has also failed to perform her duty to hold property auctions. When Bilal took office, she unilaterally entered into an agreement with the online real estate auction company Bid4Assets to manage the sales of tax-delinquent property. Other online auction firms called the deal “surreptitious” because of how quietly the bidding process was handled.
Landlords have also complained about the ineffectiveness of the sheriff’s office. During hearings on proposed Safe Healthy Homes legislation meant to protect renters, opponents decried the current difficulties in evicting tenants, a process that can take months.
The one thing that has tended to get done under Bilal is wasting taxpayer dollars.
Almost immediately after taking office, the sheriff fired an employee who questioned what he called a “slush fund” the department used to pay for professional DJs, a mascot costume, and branded merchandise, among other dubious expenses. There were also efforts to double Bilal’s salary and hand out large raises to top deputies.
Problems at the sheriff’s office are not new. An Inquirer investigation outlined 170 years of dysfunction and corruption. This board and good government groups like the Committee of Seventy have repeatedly called for the office to be abolished.
Given the existence of modern police departments — and the apparent inability of Bilal and her team to do their jobs — the continued existence of this vestigial office is a mystery.