PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s city controller is taking issue with how the mayor and City Council spend money on violence prevention. The mayor’s office says her calculations are off.
City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart says too much of the $208 million the city spends on anti-violence programs goes to medium- and long-term solutions, and not enough goes to programs that Rhynhart says are most effective for short-term results, such as Group Violence Intervention and Community Crisis Intervention.
Group Violence Intervention works directly with neighborhood groups at odds with each other to work toward finding incentives to avoid gun violence. Community Crisis Intervention gathers respected influencers from neighborhoods most at risk of gun violence to mediate conflicts and steer the people involved toward better choices.
Rhynhart's bottom line: Despite historically high anti-violence spending, Philadelphia has historically high gun violence.
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The Kenney administration disputes Rhynhart’s assessment. A spokesman says nearly three-quarters of the anti-violence budget goes to short-term solutions, pointing to several programs, including:
Police-assisted diversion — a tactic used to steer people caught in low-level criminal activity away from the criminal justice system and toward social service supports.
Evening reporting centers — court-ordered arts, life skills and community service programs for high school-age kids.
Out-of-school-time activities — after-school and summer arts, athletic and STEM programs for kids.
He says the administration has been doing everything in its power not just to stop violence but to understand its causes — and that they are deeply complex. He says city officials should be working together to make the city safer.
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