Frank Rizzo

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Francis Lazarro Rizzo (October 23, 1920 – July 16, 1991) was an American police officer and politician. He served as commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) from 1967 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He was a member of the Democratic Party throughout the entirety of his career in public office. He switched to the Republican Party in 1986 and campaigned as a Republican for the final five years of his life. Rizzo was born to an Italian-American family in South Philadelphia, and joined the Philadelphia Police Department as an officer in 1943. He rose to public prominence as police commissioner, before seeking the mayor's office in 1971. He was re-elected in 1975. A polarizing figure during his lifetime, Rizzo's legacy has come under greater scrutiny in the years since his death due to the prevalence of racism and brutality within the Philadelphia Police Department. Before, during, and after Rizzo's tenure as police commissioner, the PPD engaged in patterns...

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