Inquirer editorial: Police added polish to Philly's image during DNC

Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Richard Ross made it clear before the Democratic National Convention began that Philadelphia wouldn't be a "lock-'em-up" city. The resulting restraint paid off big in presenting to the world what one would expect of the City of Brotherly Love.

Kenney and Ross were determined to break from the harsher approach that the Police Department took during the 2000 Republican National Convention, which resulted in more than 400 arrests. The majority of those cases were dismissed. But some wondered whether a more reserved police presence would be practical given the heightened tensions stemming from protests against police brutality around the country in the weeks before the convention.

Marches and rallies organized by supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement, Bernie Sanders supporters, and other groups occurred daily, but police arrested only 11 people over the four days of the convention. That low number was in large part attributed to the department's decision to issue $50 citations for low-level violations like failure to disperse rather than arrest those lawbreakers.

More than 100 protesters received citations, including 34 who were taken into custody after refusing to stop blocking an exit. The few who were arrested included seven bound-and-determined individuals who climbed a parking lot fence Wednesday night in trying to break through a security perimeter around the Wells Fargo Center.

Officers were omnipresent at rallies and marches, but most of them watched quietly from bicycles. If any officers were wearing riot gear, they weren't visible. During Tuesday's Black Resistance March, police stood by stoically and monitored the situation while onlookers and protesters sat on top of subway stations and climbed up a light pole to wave signs.

There was some shouting of offensive language at officers and signs that called for jailing "killer cops." But the police didn't react to them. Other signs declared that Hillary Clinton has "blood on her hands." After the rally, a man played "The Star-Spangled Banner" on a trumpet for police.

Sanders supporters, socialists, and Green Party advocates expressed more frustration with Clinton and the Democratic Party than with police. Some shouted at convention delegates and attempted to breach security barriers. Meanwhile, protesters more committed to spreading messages of peace camped out in an area nearby that became known as "Bernstock."

Police procedures weren't the only worry prior to the convention. SEPTA had to scramble to find railcars for commuters after more than 100 with structural defects were taken out of service. In addition to anticipated delays and detours, temporary closures of the subway station closest to the Wells Fargo Center the first two days of the convention forced delegates to walk nearly a mile in the heat or rain to get to or from the next station. But there were no major problems.

Overall, it was a very busy and expressive week for Philadelphia, but the city met the challenge. The Police Department in particular, with so much focus on how it would treat protesters, did an outstanding job of keeping the peace in the city where democracy was born.