Pat Dugan, a former Municipal Court president judge challenging District Attorney Larry Krasner in the May 20 primary, blamed the incumbent for the high rate of retail theft.
Krasner held a news conference on Wednesday that touched on ways to solve the problem of retail theft.
Dugan noted that police department statistics from 2014-24 show retail theft higher in 2024 than any other year.
Dugan said, “Retail thefts in Philly have reached an all-time high with more cases in 2024 than we’ve seen in the last decade. As a Philadelphia municipal judge, I saw many cases of retail theft over the last 17 years, and most of the time it was diversion programs, not incarceration, that effectively reduced crime rates and kept people from repeat offenses.
“We deserve a better district attorney than Mr. Krasner, who won’t admit that his broken policies have led to the highest rates of retail theft in over a decade. I know because I’ve seen it firsthand as a Municipal Court judge, that the rise in retail theft is not from a lack of diversion programs, it’s from a lack of leadership and competency in the District Attorney’s Office. I am running for district attorney because the top prosecutor in Philadelphia should be both competent and compassionate, for the sake of all Philadelphians.”
Police department stats show that, from 2020 to 2023, reports of retail theft increased by 132%. In 2024, there were more than 22,000 retail theft incidents..
Dugan blamed Krasner’s policies of the last seven years for the closures of stores such as Wawa, Rite Aid, CVS, Macy’s and many small businesses. ••
