A polarizing figure during his lifetime,[1] Rizzo's legacy has come under greater scrutiny in the years since his death due to the prevalence of racism and brutality within the Philadelphia Police Department.

[2][3] The patterns of police brutality were documented in a Pulitzer Prize-winning Philadelphia Inquirer series by William K. Marimow and Jon Neuman.

[8] Enlisting in the United States Navy, Rizzo served on the USS Houston cruiser for 19 months before being medically discharged due to diabetes insipidus.

[8] Returning to Philadelphia, Rizzo worked for Midvale Steel, helping manufacture naval guns in the lead-up to World War II.

A biography of Rizzo, with an introduction written by future police commissioner John Timoney, recounted: "Of one group of anti-police demonstrators, he is reported to have said, 'Just wait: After November, you'll have a front row seat because when I'm finished with them, I'll make Attila the Hun look like a faggot.

During Rizzo's tenure as division captain and commissioner, critics often charged that he was racially motivated, targeting activities in black neighborhoods.

The incident as captured by the local news media shows Africa being dragged by his hair, struck with an officer's helmet, and kicked in the face and groin once on the ground.

Running as a Democrat in the November 1971 election, Rizzo defeated former (and future) Councilman-at-Large and Chamber of Commerce President Thacher Longstreth.

[25][26] Unlike his opponents, Rizzo did not issue campaign position papers; he thought his slogan, "firm but fair," sufficiently explained his expected role.

Roberts and his staff emphasized investigative reporting, and the Rizzo administration, among other local institutions, was the subject of many critical stories by the Times.

A reporter from the Philadelphia Daily News asked Rizzo if he would submit to a polygraph test to prove Camiel was lying.

Just wait after November you'll have a front row seat because I'm going to make Attila the Hun look like a faggot.In the 1975 Democratic primary, Rizzo defeated State Senator Louis G. Hill, Dilworth's nephew, who was supported by Camiel.

[citation needed] During Rizzo's second term, black community activist and future Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode sued the city in federal court, alleging racial discrimination in the police and fire departments.

The suit led to the adoption of the influential "Philadelphia Plan", calling for affirmative action in civil service hiring and promotions.

An interesting feature of Rizzo's mayoralty was the establishment and mayor sanctioning of a publicly funded "anti-defamation agency" to combat pejorative remarks about Philadelphia.

PGW then implemented senior citizens discounts and generous municipal labor contracts and expanded patronage hiring.

A 1993 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts conducted by Melvin G. Holli of the University of Illinois at Chicago saw Rizzo ranked as the fifth-worst American big-city mayor to serve between the years 1820 and 1993.

A 1968 lawsuit charged Rizzo and the Fairmount Parks commission in a class action suit, alleging targeted harassment of "hippies" in Rittenhouse Square.

[43] Another 1973 civil rights action charged Rizzo with assault and conspiracy against political protestors in activities related to his mayoral campaign.

[44] Rizzo was also named in a protracted court battle over Whitman Park, a bitterly contested public housing project in South Philadelphia.

Rizzo ultimately lost in court in 1979, as Federal District Judge Raymond J. Broderick cited racist motivations in blocking the project.

He won the Republican primary against former Philadelphia District Attorney (and later chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court) Ronald D. Castille.

Rizzo's funeral was purported to be the largest in the history of Philadelphia,[50] with people lining the streets of the motorcade from the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul to the cemetery.

[51] In his hometown neighborhood of South Philadelphia, a mural portrait of Rizzo was located at the Italian Market on Ninth Street.

A statue of Mayor Rizzo waving in greeting, created by sculptor Zenos Frudakis, used to stand in front of Philadelphia's Municipal Services Building.

Following the aftermath of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Councilwoman Helen Gym posted on Twitter, "All around the country, we're fighting to remove the monuments to slavery & racism.

"[59] Rizzo was portrayed in The Thin Blue Lie by Paul Sorvino, The Irishman by Gino Cafarelli and The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer by Louis Di Bianco.

The Cop Who Would Be King, by Philadelphia Bulletin journalists Joseph R. Daughen and Peter Binzen, is widely considered the most authoritative account of Frank Rizzo's rise to power.

[60] More critical comments on Rizzo's tenure as police commissioner and mayor are found in Andrea Mitchell's book Talking Back.

Phyllis Kaniss' The Media and the Mayor's Race is an analysis of local journalistic coverage of Rizzo's last campaign; it describes the tactics he used against Castille and planned to use against Rendell.