Philly Sheriff’s Dancing Video Cost Citizens an Obscene Sum and She Thought Nobody Would Notice Who Got Rich

Philadelphia is one of the most dangerous cities in America.

Now find out how the sheriff's office spent a massive dollar amount of citizens’ taxes on a recruitment video that could have been done on a cell phone.

What Sheriff Rochelle Bilal did with that cash – and who she paid to do it – is something every Philadelphia taxpayer deserves to know.

Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal Ran an $8 Million Slush Fund While Claiming She Was Underfunded

The money didn't come from Bilal's official budget.

It came from a hidden TD Bank account called "Operation Cost Payable" – a fund on his first day and told his new boss it wasn't legal.

He called it a "slush fund" the moment he saw it.

Mandel lasted five weeks as Bilal's chief financial officer.

He raised concerns about the off-budget spending in his first week and was fired shortly after.

Mandel filed a whistleblower lawsuit – and the city of Philadelphia quietly paid him $465,000 to make it go away, plus $77,802 to cover Bilal's own legal costs.

That was 2020.

Bilal kept the account open.

Between March 2024 and October 2025, her office ran nearly $8 million through it – spending that a 2022 city audit said violated Philadelphia's Home Rule Charter, a conclusion the city's Law Department reached as well.

The $606000 Dancing Recruitment Ad That Went to Her Own Campaign Manager

When Bilal decided her office needed a recruitment video, she didn't go through the city's Office of Human Resources.

She didn't put it out for competitive bid.

She cut a $606,540 check to TML Communications – a firm run by Teresa Lundy, Bilal's former campaign manager, who also serves as the office's contracted spokesperson.

TML Communications had already collected $255,569 in April 2025 and $100,971 in July 2024 from the same secret account for deputy recruitment work.

The video featured Sheriff Bilal line dancing with her coworkers to a viral hit song – complete with office-branded hand fans and a cowboy mascot called Deputy Sheriff Justice – during the Penn State-Michigan State football game in November 2025.

The purpose of the ad was not revealed until the final moments, when the words "apply to be a sheriff" appeared on screen.

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Bilal refused to say how much it cost, who produced it, or whether it worked.

The Results: A Handful of New Hires

For $606,000, here's what Philadelphia got.

The office recorded 38 new deputy recruits between October 2025 and March 2026 – up from 22 during the same period the previous year.

Sixteen additional recruits.

By comparison, the Philadelphia Police Department hired 468 officers last year using $500,000 – money that went through the city's actual budget process, with actual oversight.

Bilal's secret account spent more than the police department's entire annual marketing budget on a 30-second dancing video and netted a fraction of the results.

When asked whether the campaign met its recruitment goals, Bilal's office had no answer.

The $606,000 was just one line item in a slush fund that also sent $137,000 to a promotional gear company, $85,000 toward travel and conferences – including $14,000 paid directly to Bilal herself – $77,000 on DJs, block parties, and community events, and $466,000 to a staffing company for temporary hires.

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Nobody in City Hall Wants to Answer for This

Mayor Cherelle Parker's spokesperson didn't answer questions.

The city finance director didn't answer questions.

City Council President Kenyatta Johnson didn't answer questions.

Fifteen other council members declined to comment entirely.

The only council member who responded – Mark Squilla – said he wasn't aware of the spending and would check with the Law Department.

Bilal and Lundy did not comment on any of the new expenditures.

This is the same sheriff who stood at a podium in January 2026 and called ICE agents "made-up, fake, wannabe law enforcement" – the same sheriff Pennsylvania state Sen. Jarrett Coleman warned was making "empty threats" while her city remained one of the most dangerous in America.

She's been threatening federal law enforcement with one hand and writing six-figure checks to her campaign manager with the other.

Nobody in Philadelphia's city government has lifted a finger to stop it.

Your tax money paid for all of it – and every single person in Philadelphia City Hall decided that wasn't worth a comment.

Sources:

• Ryan W. Briggs and William Bender, "Sheriff Bilal's dancing ad was paid for from a bank account city officials won't talk about," The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 8, 2026.
• Chris Brennan, "Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal fired aide who questioned 'slush fund' spending," The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 3, 2020.
• William Bender, "Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal accused of abuse and retaliation in lawsuits by three top staffers," The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 24, 2021.
• "Pennsylvania lawmakers warn Philadelphia Sheriff, DA about ICE arrests," Fox News, January 14, 2026.
• "Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal goes viral, draws criticism for message to ICE agents," The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 10, 2026.