A History Untold: The Philadelphia Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Rochelle Bilal

On January 6, 2020, I was sworn into the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office, promising change to the residents of Philadelphia.

- Sheriff Rochelle Bilal

A change in leadership, executive and administrative management, and operational function.

Though reporters and the editorial staff from The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Daily News (owned and operated by the Philadelphia Media Network), and a few other Philadelphia media sources have attempted to tarnish the Sheriff’s Office’s and my reputation, we are still prevailing and building an Office, through a series of effective and efficient improvements, that the residents of Philadelphia can be proud of and confident in.

To begin, when I first entered the Office in 2020, my goal was, and still is, transparency and rebuilding trust between the Sheriff’s Office and the community. To accomplish these goals, I first conducted a thorough assessment of the previous and current state of the Sheriff’s Office. Second, I began to develop a culture within the Office to go above and beyond when meeting the needs of this City and County. I believe that a leader is effective when they first become knowledgeable of the people they are charged with leading and the systems that are in place before establishing changes.

After assessment, I began to put people, policies, and procedures in place to make the necessary changes to better the Office. Below is a brief outline of the many accomplishments the Sheriff’s Office has achieved, and we do not plan to stop here:

Creation of an Undersheriff Unit