Philadelphia mayor-elect expected to announce new police commissioner

Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker is expected to name Kevin Bethel as the department’s top cop, a 29-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department

November 22, 2023 05:04 PM

20231121-AMX-US-NEWS-MAYORELECT-CHERELLE-PARKER-HAS-TAPPED-1-PHI.jpg — School District of Philadelphia Chief Safety Officer Kevin Bethel speaks with reporters on the scene of a shooting on Pechin Street behind Roxborough High School in Philadelphia in September 2022.

By Joanna Putman
Police1

PHILADELPHIA — Chief of School Safety Kevin Bethel is expected to be named the next Philadelphia Police Commissioner, WPVI reported.

Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker is expected to make a formal announcement Nov. 22 at 10 a.m.

Bethel has served as the Chief of School Safety for four years. He served in the Philadelphia Police Department for 29 years, eight of them as Deputy Police Commissioner of Patrol Operations, according to the report.

As the school safety chief, Bethel worked to create a diversion program to keep students out of gang-related activity and the juvenile justice system.

This is the first major leadership decision for Parker, who made public safety one of her top priorities while campaigning, according to the report.

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