PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — At the first of what he promises will be biweekly briefings on the city's gun violence problem, Mayor Jim Kenney offered very little in the way of new strategies, despite acknowledging that the city is on track for another record year for homicides.
"My promise to Philadelphians is that we will do everything within our power to stem the appalling level of violence we're currently experiencing," he said. "Our residents need to feel safe in their communities, and I vow to do everything I can to make that a reality."
When asked specifics, however, he treated the issue as something largely outside his control.
"The number of guns that are on the street is irrational and crazy. We need some help, not only from the state but from the federal government to slow the flow of weaponry," he said, sounding a familiar note.
He also blamed COVID-19 for keeping courts and parole and probation offices from operating and for interfering with the strategies in his two-year-old violence prevention plan, "Roadmap to Safer Communities."
A linchpin of the plan is group violence intervention (GVI), which requires face-to-face meetings with those most likely to be involved in crime, either as a perpetrator or victim.
Kenney said he was hopeful that, as vaccinations become more widespread and the pandemic ebbs, that the plan would begin to show results.
Erica Atwood, senior director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Initiatives for Criminal Justice and Public Safety, said GVI meetings had resumed in August.
"These are powerful engagements, where young people and their families must face the consequences connected to group violence and ongoing disputes that lead to gun violence and death," she said.
She added that the city has also provided extra support for citizens returning from incarceration, to help them get through the pandemic without returning to crime.
She promised she would provide updates to the "Roadmap" plan at the next briefing, on March 31. She said one new plan on the launchpad is a "Next Gen" task force.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said, given the young age of so many of the recent victims and suspects, she is looking forward to meeting with the group.
"There was a very strong disconnect between us and the young folks in this community, and we have to do better with this demographic," she said.
Other police officials provided data about "hotspots," 11 neighborhoods that account for most of the shootings and homicides in the city. They include Wissinoming, Frankford, Kensington, Logan, East Tioga, Strawberry Mansion, Brewerytown, Paddington, Cobbs Creek, Belmont and Kingsessing.
They also identified the top three motives for the shootings as arguments, drugs, and domestic violence, which they said was up sharply this year.
Commissioner Outlaw said police seized 5,000 crime guns, last year, and 1,300 so far this year.
"It's obvious that despite our officers' tremendous efforts that we continue to be plagued by gun violence," she said. "This is not simply a policing problem. Turning this around will require the help of our entire community."
