Initially, it 1641 BILL NO. 990023 would probably only be the Center City area because that's primarily where some of the issues that Ms. Greenlee spoke to, quality of life issues are more prevalent in the Center City area. Again, it would be a pilot. If it works in Center City, our hope is that we can do this throughout the city by councilmanic district or whatever; I'm not sure of that. But we have to start somewhere. There's a cost involved, and those are the issues that we have been discussing for the better part of a year now. Again, I will bring everyone up to date at some point when I think we're about ready to get this thing up and running. Thank you.
One other question. Have you had discussions or any thoughts regarding how Welfare Reform will impact your Child Advocacy Unit? Do you believe there will be an impact?
Well, the Child Advocacy Unit has ongoing discussions and trainings about it. But I don't have anything specific that I can tell that I've been involved in.
Maybe we can -- 1642 BILL NO. 990023 give me somebody I can call. I'd like to call somebody and talk about that.
Only child advocacy issues because I have some specific questions.
Michael Lewis is a Director of Social Service. And the Legal Chief is Bill Norvell, N-O-R-V-E-L-L. Either one would be happy to talk to you about it. Michael's probably more up on the Welfare aspects of it since he heads a very large social service unit.
Thank you. I don't have any further questions, Madam President.
Thank you, Madam Chair. You said you had an increased caseload?
Can you detail what type of activity the increased caseload represents? 1643 BILL NO. 990023
Most of the increased caseload is in the criminal area, Councilman. There's been a percent increase in arrests over 5 the last year, the majority of them in the area of 6 drugs, misdemeanor drug offenses. As I mentioned 7 earlier, the biggest increase has been in the 8 arrests of multiple buyers in various transactions, 9 as many as five or more, as many as five people who 10 are buying drugs being arrested. 11 In the old days, there was a seller and 12 a buyer. The seller was usually arrested. The 13 police didn't usually bother to arrest the buyer. 14 But now, all buyers and multiple buyers are being 15 arrested on transactions. So that's probably the 16 biggest increase in terms of cases. 17
Can you tell me what 18 happens when you arrest the multiple buyers? You 19 arrest the buyer; I would imagine the buyer also 20 comes in as a misdemeanor drug offense. What does 21 that mean in terms of what it represents, what kind 22 of threat it represents to the person that is 23 arrested and so on? And what does the person face, 24 what type of penalty? 25
What type of penalty? 1644 BILL NO. 990023 Maybe I can defer to Mr. Cunningham, if you don't mind. He's a little closer to the action than I am.
I think when you're talking about the penalty that the person can be facing, if it's a misdemeanor, depends on the gradation of the misdemeanor.
I'm sorry. Charles Cunningham. I should identify myself. Charles Cunningham, First Assistant Defender. It's going to depend upon the particular misdemeanor. It's going to depend upon the gradation. It's going to depend upon the person's background, whether or not the person has any prior history. Therefore, if the person has a prior history, he may in fact be looking at a jail time even though it's a misdemeanor offense. On the other hand, if it's his first offense, he may be looking at probation and sometimes even a fine. More than likely, he's going to be looking at probation or she's going to be looking at probation.
What's the usual time an attorney spends on each one of these cases? And 1645 BILL NO. 990023 what's the usual time spent by the individual that is arrested and incarcerated?
I'm not quite sure I understand your question. You asked how much time the individual attorney spends on a particular case?
I mean, it's an increased caseload. I want to know what amount of time is being dedicated by the individual attorney because of the caseload and whether he's able to attend to his cases in a timely manner. Or is this causing for the asking of postponement of cases and continuances down the line? Does this lead to a creation of a backlog between the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office and the judicial system? Is this increase in misdemeanor arrests leading to individuals, who should be released almost on their own recognizance immediately, spending more time in jail and thereby taking up room that should be taken up by someone that may be a more hardened criminal?
Well, let me just say this. You have an increase in arrests. There are a number of people who are in custody now that would not have been custody at an earlier time. And I'm 1646 BILL NO. 990023 talking about at a time when Judge Shapiro was overseeing the prison system. Part of the problem, I think, is sometimes the commissioners who are at the preliminary arraignment are not following some of the guidelines that have been set and they are in fact incarcerating people that might normally and should be considered for release on their own recognizance. The number of arrests, obviously, is going to increase the number of people that are going to be held in custody, and the number of arrests are going to increase the number of cases, and the number of cases is going to, in fact, result in a backlog of cases. It also produces problems because one of the biggest problems that we have is the fact that before we can go to trial on matters, we have to get the discovery from the District Attorney's Office. They in turn have to get the discovery from the police. And then there's a great deal of problem getting the discovery, which in turn results in a number of cases being continued because the Commonwealth has not supplied discovery. 1647 BILL NO. 990023
And you're doing this with the same amount of attorneys and the same budget as you had in previous years?
We have had some increase in our staff size. But let me say this, the increase that we're having in our staff size is an increase that has resulted from the substantial increases in the number of arrests that have occurred. And I think, as Ms. Greenlee has stated earlier, we are right now capable of handling this increase. But if the volume does continue to increase, we will find ourselves in a situation where we have to bring on additional attorneys because the lists are continuing to grow, not only in our preliminary hearings which are preliminary hearings for felony cases, but also our misdemeanor cases. I mean, the bottom line is if you have five buyers from one arrest, and previously in the same type of circumstances you might have gotten one or two, you obviously have three additional defendants that now have to be represented. And that, obviously, is going to result in an increase in volume for everybody, including our staff. You asked about our preparation time. 1648 BILL NO. 990023 Our attorneys do their very best to prepare their cases and to spend as much time on each and every case that they can because they take every client to be a client that needs their very best, but it does cut down on their time. We also would like to have a situation where we have an opportunity to have a few more low level supervisors so that they can get into these courtrooms and observe our younger attorneys when they're at their least experienced state, so to speak.
I want to get a very clear answer. Are people that should be released spending more time incarcerated because of these problems that you're having, therefore, creating an obtainable prison population and people occupying cells that they should not be? And is the amount of arrests and trial dates being prolonged and extended because of the amount of arrests that are happening?
Because justice delayed is justice denied. In terms of the diversity question of 1649 BILL NO. 990023 the staffing of the PD, I've asked you this before and I've asked this of the District Attorney; what are the professional level attorneys, paralegals, and so on in terms of Latino, Asian-Americans, females that are currently employed by the Public Defender's Office?
We have the latest figures here, Councilman. We haven't distributed them, but we do have them because we thought they would be of interest to you. In terms of our staffing, overall total staff is 448 right now. If you want, we'll just give you a copy.
Attorneys, just about 198. Twenty-eight percent of our attorneys are minority, which is the lowest percentage on our staff is attorneys.
I don't have the breakdown for attorneys in terms of -- I have a breakdown for professional staff which includes 1650 BILL NO. 990023 attorneys, social workers, and investigators in terms of breakdown. Professional staff totally is 60 percent white, 28 percent African-American, 5 percent Hispanic, and percent Asian. That's a breakdown of professional staff.
And if you can break down the attorney levels and so on down the line, I would appreciate that.
You're welcome. Any other questions of Ms. Greenlee? Thank you very much.
The District Attorney's Office is next to testify. Good morning.
Good morning, President Verna. First, my hardiest congratulations upon your attaining the presidency of the City Council, and I wish for you a long and successful tenure.
My name is Lynne Abraham. I'm the District Attorney of Philadelphia. Joining me to my right are George Mosee, my Deputy for Narcotics, and Al Toczydlowski who will spell his own, please, name for the record, who is the Deputy for Administration.
I'm appreciative of the opportunity to address City Council, and I would first like to -- Mr. Toczydlowski will provide your