Philadelphia police warn anyone planning robberies: ‘You will not destroy this city’

Philadelphia police have been under intense scrutiny for days. monitoring social networks and tracking threats related to looting and other unrest in the city.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel shared some harsh words Friday while discussing how the department would handle any robberies.

“You will not destroy this city,” Bethel said. “We’re not playing today. But we’re damn sure we’ll be ready. If you want to come, we are ready and will do everything possible to prevent this from happening.” and that means arrest,” he said.

The Philadelphia Police Department warned those on social media calling for chaos to reconsider or go somewhere else.

“We are not going to allow individuals to walk around this city and loot. We’re going to make every effort to prevent that from happening,” Bethel said. “It is unacceptable for people to post on websites that they are going to come and vandalize 52nd Street.”

About half an hour after the police commissioner’s press conference Friday, CBS News Philadelphia went to 52nd and Market streets and shared Bethel’s words with locals like Mike Love.

“I shook my head because it’s just a bunch of Bolognese products,” he said. “Because this is the calmest part. The only time we have a problem is if someone is riding around and they are little kids under the age of 15 or 16 who have these little scooter bikes.”

Police sources told CBS News Philadelphia on Wednesday night that as calls for some encouraging trouble emerged on social media, an influx of additional officers thwarted attempted robberies and vandalism.

“Small businesses that are still trying to recover from the recent robbery are now forced to close their doors and hire security because someone wants to put what they’re going to do online,” Bethel said.

There is already a sense of increased security at 52nd and Market Streets. Some companies have already added additional resources but told CBS News Philadelphia they haven’t encountered any problems yet.

Joe Holden

Joe Holden returned home to join the CBS News Philadelphia team as a general assignment reporter in May 2016. In August 2018, he became the host of weekend evenings and Philly57.