Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office unveils report touting transparency, efficiency

Philadelphia’s Sheriff’s Office is taking stock to end the year. 

On Wednesday morning at the Laborers District Council training center in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal released a two-year report detailing her office’s efforts to increase transparency around its operations and engage with the community. 

“Over the last two years, our deputies, professional staff and leadership team have worked relentlessly to protect public safety, modernize our operation and strengthen trust within the communities we’re sought to serve,” Bilal said Wednesday. “This report is more than a collection of statistics; it is a story of progress, resilience, accountability and results.”

The Sheriff’s Office, tasked with providing court security and prisoner transport, as well as conducting real estate auctions and civil process paperwork, has long been associated with a history of mismanagement and a lack of oversight. By committing to producing annual public reports each December, Bilal hopes to provide Philadelphians with a clearer picture of what her office does and how it does it. 

Since taking over city eviction duties in August 2024, Bilal said, her office has expanded its capacity from approximately 25 weekly actions to about 144. The move, which came after a series of high-profile shootings involving armed contractors hired by the Landlord and Tenant Office, a private outfit led by a court-appointed attorney, resulted in the LTO being shut down and evictions becoming the sole purview of the sheriff’s office. 

“Public safety is not a talking point. For me, it is a responsibility,” she noted. “Our Civil Division served more than 15,000 eviction actions … and no one got shot.

“We’re showing that internally, we are making the progress. We are changing the narrative and moving this organization forward,” Bilal added. 

Bilal, who was  joined by other elected officials, including District Attorney Larry Krasner, state Sen. Sharif Street and state Rep. Danilo Burgos, noted that, with the help of the Philly Fugitives priority list, her office increased fugitive apprehensions by 75% over the past two years, as well as helping to remove more than 300 firearms off the streets through task force operations. 

She added that the office is modernizing its operations and looks forward to developing a new Sheriff’s Training Academy and adopting new technologies, including drones. 

Krasner, who commended Bilal’s efforts and cooperation with his office, said self-evaluation and public engagement are important in law enforcement. 

“This is the time to take stock of how things are going. It’s time to have resolutions and goals in the next year,” Krasner said Wednesday. Noting that the Sheriff’s Office has been “chronically underfunded,” he added: “I know that the sheriff is doing absolutely everything she can to protect judges, to protect civilians, to protect everyone in that courtroom to make sure that it is moving efficiently.”

The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office was the focus of recent protests by local immigration advocates who claim the office is working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and allowing individuals to be apprehended by federal agents on public property. 

Last month, the group No ICE Philly called out people being detained while attending non-immigration court proceedings and asked officials, including Bilal, for more.

Sean Thornton, chief deputy of court operations, pushed back against those assertions on Wednesday, reiterating previous statements from the office that it “does not partner with ICE.”

ICE raids throughout the nation have put immigrant populations and their advocates on high alert, Lenore Ramos Juarez, the defense organizer for the Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization Juntos, made unconfirmed claims that more than 90 individuals have been detained by ICE at the Center City courthouse in 2025 alone. 

Juarez, who noted that Juntos has been tracking first-person accounts of ICE operations in the city, added that the 90-plus individuals mentioned are a conservative – though unsubstantiated – estimate, given the number of stops that take place beyond the eyes of advocates at the courthouse.

“As Sheriff Bilal has been clear on several occasions, our office does not partner with ICE, does not assist ICE operations and does not share information with ICE,” Thornton said on Wednesday. “Our focus remains squarely on upholding the rule of law, preserving equitable access to justice and ensuring the safety and dignity of every person who walks through our courthouse door.”