As The Inquirer reported last month, Philadelphia has almost 47,000 long-term fugitives, one of the nation's highest tallies.
The newspaper's analysis of court data from 2007 and 2008 showed that nearly 19,000 defendants each year fail to show up for at least one hearing. That is one out of every three defendants.
"If we're going to address criminal behavior, it's not the severity of punishment that matters, it is the certainty of punishment," said Williams, who took office this month. "And there is no certainty of punishment when one out of three defendants fails to appear."
To fix the system, Williams and other witnesses said, cracking down on forfeited bail could deter defendants from skipping court - even if that meant collecting it from their relatives.
He also said the court system, which oversees the city's bail program, should begin using a "means test" to see if people who post bail could afford to pay the full amount if a defendant skips.
And he called on the city to eliminate the elective Clerk of Quarter Sessions office, which has been faulted for keeping inadequate records of bail debt. Earlier this month, Ronald D. Castille, the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, ordered the courts to assume most of that office's functions.
The clerk's office has been so ineffective, Williams said, that it "contributes to the fugitive crisis instead of alleviating it."
Marc Gaillard, the deputy clerk of quarter sessions, defended the office and said it had been unfairly characterized as remiss in its duties. "We want to be a part of the solution to the problems Philadelphia's criminal-justice system is experiencing, and not the scapegoat," he said.
Dennis A. Bartlett, executive director of the American Bail Coalition, an association of private bail insurance companies, said Philadelphia could solve its problems if it abandoned its reliance on government-run bail.
