Harrisburg – more than a year after the legislators from Pennsylvania adopted the law to assign a special prosecutor to examine and prosecute crimes committed in the SEPTA Nettlement in Philadelphia, depriving the District Prosecutor Larry Krasner of some of his rights, the unit remains deepened in the legal process, and has not taken any case.
And now two Republicans in Harrisburg want to add a second special prosecutor to deal with another part of crimes: those committed against the police in Philadelphia, firefighters and doctors.
State sense. Frank Farry (R., Bucks) and Joe Picozzi (R., Philadelphia) He proposed an idea This week, in the hope of introducing an invoice in the coming weeks, to restart Farry’s effort began last year. Senators said that Krasner failed to properly prosecute crimes against first aid people and want to “be sure” that such matters are properly served by supervising their prosecutor general.
This is the last attempt of republican legislators to bypass the authority of the progressive prosecutor Philadelphia, who applied for the third term. And appears among budget negotiations with the democratic Governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro, who has been trying with the dwarf for years and signed the bill on creating the role of prosecutor Sept during budget negotiations in 2023.
Krasner quickly filed a lawsuit, which tries to block the law, saying that it was unconstitutional, but the Court of the Community of Nations, in the ruling 4-3, ruled against him and said that work could go ahead. Krasner appealed against this decision to the Supreme Court, and the arguments in the case are determined in May.
Then Prosecutor General Michelle Henry called Michael Untermeyer this role in June. Untermeyer, a democrat, is a former city prosecutor and a state, who unsuccessfully escaped against Krasner when Da was elected for the first time in 2017. In 2023 he also ran to the sheriff in Philadelphia, but lost.
Since the meeting, Untermeyer has not undertaken one SEPTA case. In a tiny interview this week he said that the employment of a team of lawyers among Henry’s administration to the Republican Prosecutor General Dave Sunday was complex. Untermeyer said he recently hired his first representative who begins this month.
“Work will start soon,” he said.
He gave additional questions to the office of the Prosecutor General. The office spokesman said that the unit was preparing for a legal challenge, while Untermeyer “was involved with social partners, building relationships and infrastructure for the office.”
On Wednesday, Krasner refused to comment on Selt’s efforts and the latest Senators’ proposal.
Despite the leisurely start for Sept, Farry said he could see this effort as a model.
He said that for the first time he decided to get around the Krasner’s office regarding crimes committed against the first persons who had been strengthened last year, who was strengthened after a firefighting doctor in Philadelphia was stabbed an ambulance in October 2024 (the attacker in this case was accused of attempting to murder, assaults and related crimes and awaits the trial).
He asked Picozzi, a lonely republican senate representing a part of Philadelphia, to sign this year, and Picozi agreed, calling it “without a brainer.”
“We want to make sure that these criminals were prosecuted at an appropriate level and with appropriate enthusiasm,” said Farry, a longtime head of the fire brigade in Bucks.
Farry said that he did not refrain from the lack of progress of prosecutor Sept, who, as he said, was partly caused by delays related to legal challenges submitted by Krasner.
Two legislators said that they are still at the stage of collecting information and will talk to all interested parties during the bill.
Senators worked closely with a union representing firefighters from Philadelphia, paramedics and EMT.
Mike Bresnan, president of the International Association of Local Firefighters 22, said that dozens of its members were attacked in the city in recent years and that many people accused of crimes have reduced or withdrew. He said that 28 of its members were attacked last year, and in the cases in which the allegations were lodged, they often did not hear from prosecutors when cases moved through the courts.
Bresnan supported the opponent of Krasner in his re -election campaign, former judge Patrick F. Dugan, this week. At a press conference announcing his support, Bresnan said that his relationship helps GOP legislators in the development of a law that would create a special prosecutor for crimes against the first giving rescuers and modeling him at the work of a special SEPT prosecutor.
Bresnan said that the union analyzed the data in 2021, when Krasner first applied for re -election and saw the “template of the Krasner office reducing the fee.” He said that he no longer had access to this data, but “we assume that the same nonsense is happening.”
Bresnan, who previously supported President Donald Trump – by lighting a wave of conflict between members and even a lawsuit – said that in Philadelphia the problem of “lawlessness”, behind which he blames the Krasner.
“Our members need all the security we can get,” he said.
Bresnan said that the lack of doctors is underway, and sometimes they react to the scenes where people are in danger without backups of the police.
As a result, he said that last year over two dozen of the first rescuers were attacked. Some, as the plates show, were hit in the face, bitten and kicked. Bresnan said that one doctor was critically wounded in a stab that had pierced his lungs.
The Union spokesman said that the leaders of the Police Lodge 5 brotherhood were surprised by the plan and were not informed about the upcoming bill.
Picozzi said that all the first respondents were threatened and that this effort shows “we have their backs”.
