Resolution 260650

..Title Authorizing the City Council Committee on Legislative Oversight to hold hearings examining the strategy and tactics deployed by the City of Philadelphia for crowd control during and following public events, as a result of reports of overly aggressive tactics used by the Philadelphia Police Department following the 2026 LGBTQ Pride festivities. ..Body WHEREAS, Philadelphia has long been recognized as a national leader in LGBTQ+ inclusion and civil rights, and the Gayborhood serves as a historic cultural center for LGBTQ+ Philadelphians and visitors, businesses, community organizations, and community celebrations; and WHEREAS, From the Stonewall uprising in New York City in 1969 to cities and communities across the country, the gay rights movement mobilized to protest and resist targeted brutality of the LGBTQ+ community by police. Philadelphia's first formal Gay Pride March in 1972, where thousands of people rallied in Rittenhouse Square and marched through Center City to Independence Hall, was created in response to a culture of harassment of LGBTQ+ Philadelphians by the Philadelphia Police Department; and WHEREAS, Pride celebrations locally and nationally commemorate decades of struggle for equality and dignity, including resistance to discriminatory policing and the historic fight for LGBTQ+ liberation; and WHEREAS, Following the June 7, 2026 Pride march from Center City to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and formal festival events and performances on the parkway, LGBTQ+ community members and allies gathered to celebrate Pride throughout the City, including at the many venues in the Gayborhood; and WHEREAS, Videos and eyewitness accounts widely circulated through news outlets and social media depict aggressive police tactics, including physical confrontations, the use of mounted and motorcycle officers to disperse crowds, heavily barricaded streets, and officers employing force during arrests; and WHEREAS, These incidents prompted widespread concern among LGBTQ+ residents, community leaders, advocates and supporters throughout Philadelphia, and calls for further investigation into the Philadelphia Police Department's strategy and tactics, with particular concern into inequitable and aggressive treatment of LGBTQ+, black and brown Philadelphians; and WHEREAS, The public deserves transparency and clarity about the City of Philadelphia's policies regarding events in general, including licensing and permitting for street closures, sanitation concerns, costs to community organizations for policing, and expectations regarding crowd control and response to participant behavior, with a need to investigate the extent to which all communities are treated fairly and equitably under the City's policies and procedures; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby authorizes the Committee on Legislative Oversight to hold hearings examining the strategy and tactics deployed by the City of Philadelphia for crowd control during and following public events, as a result of reports of overly aggressive tactics used by the Philadelphia Police Department following the 2026 LGBTQ Pride festivities. ..End