By Robert Moran INQUIRER STAFF WRITER With violent crime the overriding issue in Philadelphia’s mayoral race, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa.) tonight secured the coveted endorsement of the city’s police union.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, which represents thousands of city officers, will announce the endorsement tomorrow at a news conference.
The FOP board of directors listened to presentations by Brady, former City Councilman Michael Nutter, State Rep. Dwight Evans, and businessman Tom Knox, who spoke last night.
Brady spoke Feb. 13 and emphasized that he would listen to the concerns of ordinary officers working in the police districts, a union official who asked not to be identified said tonight.
U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), who has emerged as the leading candidate in polls, did not ask to present his case to the board, the official said.
The union has been at odds with Fattah for his support of a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal in the 1981 slaying of Officer Daniel Faulkner.
That’s a hot-button issue that for many officers overshadows Fattah’s policy positions on other public-safety matters.
Al Taubenberger, the sole Republican candidate, also did not ask to make his case before the union.
The nod from the police union comes on the heels of an endorsement of Brady, who is also chairman of the city’s Democratic Party, by District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham on Monday.
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