Black and Latino Philadelphians are frisked at a rate 1.5 times that of white residents, and Black defendants are more likely to receive lengthier prison terms.
Those findings were among dozens published Monday in a report from District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office highlighting racial disparities in the city’s criminal justice system. His team of researchers spent three years analyzing 290,000 cases between 2015 and 2022.
“This is the start of a process,” Krasner said. “It puts numbers to a problem. It admits that the problem is there, but in no way does it solve it.”
Krasner, who took office in 2018 as a reform-minded prosecutor, has pushed progressive policies and sought to decrease the number of people behind bars.
“The reality is the system is deeply racist,” he said. “My predecessors, certainly every single one who I observed closely, perpetuated that. We need to change that every way we can.”
The study was released on Juneteenth in the courtyard of Eastern State Penitentiary, which pioneered solitary confinement and isolation.
“To me, Juneteenth is not a celebration,” said Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the Abolitionist Law Center. “Juneteenth, to me, is a reminder that we have a lot of work to do dismantling the vestiges of slavery and Jim Crow in the United States, particularly within this criminal justice system.”
Researchers, in the study, examine disparities at different stages in the legal process, from the initial police stop to incarceration.
Despite making up 38% of Philadelphia’s population, Black residents account for nearly 70% of all police stops and 62% of arrests, according to the report. White people comprise 18% of stops, 21% of arrests and 34% of total city residents.
The study notes that research has shown that no racial group commits more crimes on average.
Black and Latino people are more likely to be subjected to stop-and-frisk, the controversial tactic during which an officer can search a person for a weapon or other contraband, according to the report. Candidates in the Democratic primary for mayor debated stop-and-frisk, with nominee Cherelle Parker saying she supports its “constitutional” use.
The report from the DA’s Office analyzed the most common criminal offenses, finding that Latino residents are charged with drug trafficking 12 times as much as white defendants.
In six of the other categories (aggravated assault, burglary, DUI, robbery, simple assault and theft), Black Philadelphians are charged at higher rates. White residents are most often charged with drug possession compared to other racial groups, according to the study.
A total of 65% of people who received prison time during the seven-year period in Philadelphia were Black, as were about three-quarters of defendants sentenced to more than two years.
Black and Latino offenders faced longer sentences than white people for burglary and aggravated assault even when controlling for past criminal record and gun charges, the report said.
Aside from the case data, the 66-page document tracks the history of discrimination and mass incarceration in Philadelphia and around the country.
It also offers a few recommendations, including investing in improved street lighting and anti-dumping measures; increasing restorative justice programs; and reconfiguring the guidelines provided to judges to assess a suspect’s risk to the community.
A forum is being planned for the fall to develop an agenda around the findings, said the Rev. Gregory Holston, a senior advisor to Krasner who led the effort.
