(USNewsMag.com) – On Sept. 5, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced that after three and a half years as the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, Danielle Outlaw had handed in her resignation. Her final day as Philadelphia Police Commissioner will be Sept. 22.
Outlaw is taking a job with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as the Deputy Chief Security Officer. She stated that her new position will include overseeing the security of the ports, bridges, tunnels, and airports in that region.
Outlaw began her career rising through the ranks of the police department in Oakland, California, her hometown. In 2017, she was named chief of police in Portland, Oregon. In February 2020, Outlaw was named the Philadelphia Police Department commissioner. She was the first black female to lead the 6,000-member Philadelphia Police Department.
Outlaw’s resignation comes as the homicide rate and crime rate in the city have become the top issues in the Philadelphia mayor’s race. Between 2007 and 2019, statistics show that Philadelphia annually had between 246 and 391 homicides. In 2020, the year Outlaw took over, that number climbed to 499 homicides. That was followed by another increase in 2021 to 562. The number of homicides fell slightly in 2022 to 516. Current Philadelphia Police Department crime data shows that, compared to the same day in 2021, there has been a 21 percent drop in homicides this year.
In the final days of any administration, Kenney stated that it is common to see top officials “begin to move on. Cherelle Parker, the Democratic mayoral nominee, is favored to replace Kenney, whose second term ends in four months.
Outlaw stated that serving “alongside each member of the Philadelphia Police Department” and for “Mayor Kenney’s administration” has been her “honor and privilege.”
Kenney has appointed First Deputy Commissioner John M. Stanford Jr. as Interim Police Commissioner. For two decades, Stanford has worked for the police department, serving as department spokesperson, leading a West Philadelphia district, and overseeing internal affairs.
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