And perhaps the greatest example of a reversal on progressive policy was in Oregon, where earlier this month the governor signed legislation recriminalizing the possession of such drugs as heroin and cocaine just three years after the state became the first to decriminalize it.

Experts and activists see Parker's approach as part of the larger trend. But there's intense disagreement over whether her strategy can be effective in achieving her goal of ending the drug market while still treating people in addiction with compassion.

Kris Henderson, executive director of the Amistad Law Project, a law firm that has advocated for public safety approaches outside law enforcement, said Parker's strategy represents a return to "war on drugs" policymaking that emphasizes policing over public health.

"It feels very reminiscent of the '90s and the aughts, this idea that if you lock everybody up, things are going to change," Henderson said. "When people are cycling in and out of jail, their lives are more unstable. It's not going to make anything better."

But Rafael A. Mangual, head of research for policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, said more progressive approaches to addressing drugs — such as avoiding arresting people in addiction for using illegal drugs — has led to "a massive decline in public order." In Philadelphia, arrests for drug possession have sharply declined over the last decade.

"Drive up and down Kensington Avenue and you tell me how these individuals are better off," Mangual said. "How is it compassionate? People are overdosing on a regular basis. You're not actually helping the people who are struggling. They're not better off."

Parker has pledged that her approach to public safety, especially in Kensington, will blend law enforcement with public health. She says often that her strategy is three-pronged — prevention, intervention, and enforcement — and that she wants people in addiction to have access to longterm treatment and housing.

Still, Parker has been unabashedly supportive of the police department, and her administration's 53-page public safety plan is almost entirely about law enforcement strategies.

The plan says that people in addiction will be offered the opportunity to seek treatment before facing arrest. Some of Parker's allies in City Council — including Councilmember Jim Harrity, who is himself in recovery from alcohol addiction — have said incarceration should be viewed as a tool to push people toward recovery.

"The whole idea is to get these people into long-term recovery," Harrity said earlier this year. "I also know that from experience being in recovery, that some of us actually do have to get a criminal record in order to get sober."

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