Philadelphia is opening a “neighborhood wellness court” in its Kensington neighborhood, an initiative in which police will arrest people who are openly using drugs, issue them summary citations, and offer addiction treatment and diversionary services before a judge the same day. Mayor Cherelle Parker signed an executive order Tuesday establishing the court, which she called an unprecedented step “to restore community and a quality of life” in a neglected neighborhood overrun by an open-air drug market, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We’ll no longer attempt to normalize the challenges that exist there, and continue walking by, closing our eyes real tight, trying to wish what we are seeing in front of our very eyes away. The world doesn’t work that way,” Parker said.
To start, the court will operate only on Wednesdays, though it will likely expand, said Adam Geer, the city’s chief public safety director. Philadelphia police are expected to conduct sweeps of Kensington on Wednesdays, and officers will have the discretion to bring anyone before the court for offenses including disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, obstructing highways and other passageways, and criminal trespassing. Typically, someone arrested for those crimes would be charged with a misdemeanor and held in jail while waiting to be arraigned. Under the new initiative, those charged will first be transported to a triage center, where they will be evaluated physically and mentally. University of Pennsylvania medical staff will be available on site to treat wounds, offer withdrawal care, and take people to a hospital if necessary. Many people living in addiction in Kensington have outstanding warrants, typically for low-level offenses like failure to appear during a retail theft or drug possession case. Those often disqualify people from being able to enter diversion programs and treatment. Geer said, "What we’re telling you is, we will take care of those bench warrants for those low-level [crimes] up front, and we will get you directly into the treatment and into beds that day. That is big.”
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