The judges, in a court order published this week, say the sheriff’s “systemic failures” to staff the criminal courthouse, family law center, City Hall courtrooms and other sites pose an “imminent threat” to public safety. They tracked 72 security incidents in Philadelphia courts last year and expect to end this year with even more. By comparison, there were 25 security incidents reported in 2019 under a predecessor, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
In one alarming incident caught on video in February, two men brawled in a hallway at Philadelphia Family Court while another man was on the floor, seemingly unconscious, and a lone security officer tried to regain control.
Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal has said the staffing problem is part of a national shortage of police officers and has sought more funding to recruit, train and employ more people. Lawyers and court officials say the lack of staff has led to frequent trial delays, frustrating not only those who work in the court system but witnesses, victims and defendants as well.
“The emotional cost to victims’ and defendants’ families waiting for hours for their opportunities to give victim impact testimony or address the court is unquantifiable,” Common Pleas Judge Barbara McDermott told The Philadelphia Inquirer this fall.
The order from President Judge Nina Wright Padilla and other court officials calls on Sheriff Bilal to submit a security plan within 30 days and implement it within 90 days.
Bilal, a former police officer, did not immediately return a message left Friday by The Associated Press at her office. She has asked City Council to increase her department’s funding by 30%, or by more than $10 million, to adequately staff courtrooms across five buildings in the city. Her department is also tasked with prisoner transport.
Defense lawyer William J. Brennan, who has worked in the city court system for 40 years, said the Criminal Justice Center remains less busy than it was before the COVID-19 shutdown. In his view, that can make it feel less safe, he said.
“It seems like as the volume has dwindled down, so has the security,” he said Friday. “This is a great wakeup call — a time to start fresh and do preventive measures before there’s a tragedy.”
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