Stoneleigh Fellow Kevin Bethel is featured in PublicSource for his work expanding the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program.
A former deputy commissioner, Kevin Bethel spent 29 years with the Philadelphia Police Department and most recently supervised patrols across Philadelphia, including officers responsible for school arrests. What he saw — students bearing the trauma and embarrassment of arrest and being funneled into the justice system with no benefit to public safety — left him deeply troubled. Now Bethel runs the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program as a fellow of the Stoneleigh Foundation. Under his supervision, arrests dropped from 1,580 arrests in the 2013-14 school year to 724 the next year. In lieu of arrest, students are sent to social services, taking advantage of existing programs in the city.
