[8][9][10][11] The patterns of police brutality were documented in a 1978 Pulitzer Prize–winning Philadelphia Inquirer series by William K. Marimow and Jon Neuman.

[12] In 1797, Philadelphia established a night watch, and employed its first police officers to patrol the streets in daytime in 1833.

[13] In 1870, a Philadelphia policeman shot and killed Henry Truman, an unarmed Black man in an alley.

More than 400 individual police officers are identified by first name, last initial, and badge or payroll number as receiving improper payments in terms of cash, merchandise, sexual services, or meals.

"[20] A 1978 Pulitzer Prize-winning series in The Philadelphia Inquirer by William K. Marimow and Jon Neuman documented extensive patterns of police brutality in the PPD.

[21] In 1985, a residential eviction against an anarcho-primitivist organization called MOVE lead to a shootout between the group and the PPD.

During the standoff, a PPD Lieutenant in a PA State Police helicopter dropped C-4 onto a bunker on the roof of the house, often referred to as the MOVE compound.

The Task Force is staffed entirely by Detectives, and was created to focus on violent offenders & prior convicts (felons) in possession of firearms.

[26] In 2019, August 2019 Philadelphia shooting: Six PPD officers are shot and injured while serving a drug warrant.

[30] Previously in the 2000s, Bologna was videoed instructing his officers to turn off security cameras for a raid, and was suspended for "failing to properly supervise".

[31] In 2021, the city of Philadelphia paid $2 million to a Black woman who in 2020 was pulled from a car and beaten by PPD officers, as well as separated from her toddler for hours.

The Fraternal Order of Police posted pictures on social media claiming "This child was lost during the violent riots in Philadelphia, wandering around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness.

[32] In 2021, a PPD Detective was reassigned and investigated after the department received evidence indicating she had attended the January 6 rally in support of overturning the 2020 presidential election result that preceded the U.S. Capitol attack.

[38] In late October 2023, Officer Patrick Heron accepted a plea deal that would place him in confinement for between fifteen and forty years.

He had been accused of 200 counts related to charges of unlawful contact, sexual abuse of children, and forgery.

[39] The PPD employs over 6,400 sworn officers and over 800 civilian personnel,[50] and patrols an area of 369.4 km2 (142.6 mi2) with a population of almost 1.5 million.

The Deputy Commissioner and Chief Administrative Officer heads Organizational Services, Strategy, and Innovation.

Each regional command is headed by a Chief Inspector, and is subdivided into three divisions (ROC-North: East, Northwest, Northeast; ROC-South: Central, Southwest, South).

The mounted unit survived to celebrate 100 years in 1989, but was disbanded in 2004 due to budgetary cuts by Mayor John F. Street's administration.

On July 18, 2008, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey confirmed that plans are in the works to recreate the mounted unit.

[54] The Philadelphia Inquirer again reported on June 2, 2009, that Ramsey hoped to revive the unit once the city was in a better financial standing.

When assigned as a detective, a Captain organizes and directs surveillance activities and police raids, prepares cases, interviews and interrogates suspects and testifies in court.

[citation needed] The commissioner is appointed by the city managing director with mayoral approval, and is in charge of the entire department.

There are also Police Officers who serve in an investigative capacity, such as in the Juvenile Aid and Special Victims Units.

The supervisors (Sergeant, Lieutenant & Captain) in the Detective Bureau can be transferred back to patrol, and are required to maintain a uniform.

In the Philadelphia Police Department, the rank of Detective can only be achieved by a civil service exam and there are no grade differentiations.

This is in contrast to NYPD that has the ability to make field promotions to the rank of Detective for an outstanding performance or circumstance.