500 Cops Out With COVID; Murder Rate Hits 469; Where's The P.C.?

By Ralph Cipriano

for BigTrial.net

In Philadelphia, sources say, more than 500 cops are out sick with the COVID-19 virus.

Meanwhile, the murder rate has soared to 469, the highest number in 30 years. 

And where's our mayor? He's been busy crushing individual liberty by closing indoor dining, bars and gyms in Philadelphia, and canceling the Mummers parade, but Mayor Kenney has remained silent about sick cops and the record murder rate. 

So has the City Council, where four left-wing rookies last month were busy advocating defunding the police. And where's our police commissioner?

People started wondering about the whereabouts of rookie Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw on Thursday, when U.S. Attorney William McSwain held a press conference outside the federal courthouse to announce the feds were taking over from our traitorous district attorney the prosecution of four gang members responsible for the murder of a hero cop, Corporal James O'Connor. 

Outlaw, however, was noticeably absent from that press conference that took place less than a block away from her office. Instead, she sent First Deputy Police Commissioner Melvin Singleton.

The rumor mill says our low profile P.C., who just got back last month after a Covid self-quarantine, is out on the West Coast for a few weeks dealing with personal matters. 

In the Progressive Democratic utopia of Philadelphia, this is what passes for leadership.

More than 500 sick cops out of work amounts to about 8% of the department's 6,300 sworn officers. The latest outbreak of the virus in the P.D., sources say, has its origins in the Walter Wallace Jr. riots.

After the mentally ill and knife-wielding Wallace was shot to death by police on Oct. 26th, it set off three days of rioting and looting. The National Guard had to be called in.

During the police response to the riots, cops were herded like cattle, packed more than 50 at a time, into SEPTA buses, sheriff's buses and Police Athletic League vans, and then transported to various hot spots around the city.

The busing was ordered by First Deputy Police Commissioner Singleton, an Outlaw appointee who, since his promotion on June 26th, has quickly amassed an impressive reputation for bumbling.  

First, Singleton ordered cops to kneel in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, which prompted a complaint from the FOP, and an internal police investigation. Next, Singleton wasted precious police manpower by over staffing some meek protests with hundreds of extra cops. 

During the Walter Wallace riots, it fell to Singleton to deploy the troops. And cops "were just sitting in the buses like incubators, waiting to get transported to their posts," said one cop who worked that detail. 

The Walter Wallace riots not only resulted in the destruction of personal property, as more than 1,000 looters wreaked havoc, but it also turned out to be a super spreader for the cops, thanks to the organizational genius of the first deputy police commissioner, known to his troops as "Simpleton." 

When I asked the police press office to confirm the number of cops out sick with the virus, here's the response I received last Wednesday:

"As has been the case since the onset of the pandemic, we will not comment on the number of officers that are currently away from their regular assignments due to exposure and/or quarantine," said Police Officer  Miguel Torres of the Police Department's Office of Media Relations/Public Affairs.

When I asked about the wisdom of Singleton herding cops into buses and vans, this was the response I received last Wednesday from Police Officer Torres:

"We will not speculate on potential reasons for spread -- however, the health and safety of our officers is always a priority and we remain committed to ensuring that officers have the proper PPE and are adhering to proper social distancing guidelines."

"Unfortunately, not every situation a Police Officers find themselves in is conducive to maintaining safe social distance from other people -- particularly when responding to mass gatherings," Officer Torres wrote in an email. "The PPD will always seek to improve its abilities to protect both the community and our employees during emergency response."

And when I asked Thursday about the whereabouts of Police Commissioner Outlaw, and why she didn't attend McSwain's press conference, I got no response.

On Nov. 24th, Outlaw returned to work after her self-quarantine and recorded a two-minute address to the troops about COVID-19 that hit YouTube.

In the video, Outlaw told cops that she was "grateful to be back in the office and back in the field."

After a cop in her "immediate office" got sick, she said, she went into voluntary self-quarantine, and followed all protocols mandated by Dr. Thomas Farley, the city's health commissioner. 

"I was fortunate, my two tests came back negative, and I was able to return to in-person work in short order," she said. "However, as you look around your daily roll calls it's becoming obvious that more and more of our co-workers aren't so lucky and are suffering the long term effects of this pandemic." 

"Sadly, we have already lost two of our fellow officers to this deadly disease and there could be more," she said, before reminding officers to wash their hands often, social distance and wear a mask.

"As you get dressed for work every day, a mask is a part of your work attire," she lectured the troops before wishing them a "happy and healthy holiday season."

While Outlaw is out of town, First Deputy Police Commissioner Singleton is in charge of the police department. 

The cop who worked the riot detail said that Singleton should "be relieved of his command" because he "not only cost taxpayers unnecessary dollars" but also brought on the police department more Covid sickness and death. According to this cop, Singleton is "a failure at all levels."

A senior commander shared that view.

"Yes, it is Simpleton's fault," he said. "Yes, he did pack all of us on buses and inside of Police Athletic League vans."

"But the greater picture is Mayor Kenney, D.A. Krasner and Dr.  Farley enforcing masks for the rest of us, but allowing the mob, Antifa and BLM to 'burn, loot and murder' without consequence and without masks," the senior commander said. "Somehow, amazingly that never comes up as a 'super spreader' event."