Philadelphia police will “delay” the arrests of car thieves, robbers, burglars, vandals, prostitutes and more to mitigate risks of their officers getting coronavirus, according to an internal memo.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, Philadelphia police will no longer be making arrests for all narcotics offenses, theft from persons, retail theft, theft from auto, burglary, vandalism, bench warrants, stolen autos, economic crimes such as passing bad checks, fraud, & prostitution. pic.twitter.com/R2OZSPMKHO

— Rob O'Donnell (@odonnell_r) March 17, 2020

From The Philadelphia Inquirer, “Philly police will delay arrests for a range of crimes, including theft, prostitution”:

Beginning Tuesday as an attempt to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, Philadelphia police will delay arrests in crimes ranging from narcotics to theft to prostitution, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw informed commanders Tuesday.

Instead, suspects will be temporarily detained while officers can verify their identification. If they are not deemed a threat, they will be released and a warrant will be prepared for a future arrest. A detective will then submit an arrest affidavit to the district attorney’s office for approval.

Now that the threat of the coronavirus has pushed whole cities to close… Owen points out Americans must ask themselves where they draw the line on freedom.

Be careful out there, folks.

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