Penn Medicine is aiding a new initiative by the city of Philadelphia to tackle the issue of public drug use.
The City of Philadelphia is creating “neighborhood wellness courts,” where people who are openly using drugs will be issued citations and placed into treatment. The courts are designed to divert individuals away from incarceration and toward medical and social support. Penn Medicine will be providing initial medical care to those arrested for any open wounds and further treatment if necessary.
Under this system, those cited for public drug use will not face immediate criminal charges but will instead be encouraged to participate in treatment programs.
“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," Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said in the announcement. "The world doesn’t work that way,”
Philadelphia Police will sweep the streets every Wednesday and arrest those who are being disorderly or openly using drugs. The court is currently only operating on Wednesdays, but there is possibility of expansion in the future. The initiative launched on Jan. 25, when the first Wednesday sweep took place.
Those "stable enough" will be transported to the court, where officials will search for any open bench warrants for the individual in Philadelphia or surrounding counties.
“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,” Adam Geer, the city’s chief public safety director, said of the new initiative. “That is big.”
According to Governing, the program has drawn concern already. Executive Director of the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union Mike Lee said the program raises "crucial constitutional concerns" in a letter sent to Parker and Geer in December.
"The proposed program, by definition, will treat people in Kensington differently under the law than similarly situated people in any other part of the city," Lee continued. "Under this program, only those receiving summary citations in the Kensington neighborhood could be taken into custody, as it is the general policy of the Philadelphia Police Department’s not to arrest summary citation recipients."
The letter further questions if the City of Philadelphia has "accounted for how to care for detained citation recipients who may be intoxicated or experiencing withdrawal symptoms."
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