CHESTER, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Delaware County's district attorney says instances of gun violence in the city of Chester are now ⅓ of what they were before the start of a safe neighborhoods initiative. Officials are now saying they want to see the special program go nationwide.
By October of 2019, there were 100 gun violence incidents in the city of Chester already for the year.
"In the last generation, Chester has been one of the more violent small cities in Pennsylvania," District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said. "When I got elected district attorney I was promising to do something about that."
That's why the city adopted the Chester Partnership for Safe Neighborhoods in 2020 to reach at-risk members of the community, Stollsteimer says.
"The idea was to bring the community and the police, law enforcement, together, to work for positive change, to reduce the gun violence and give the young people who were committing those violent acts a chance to go straight," he said at a media briefing on the results of the partnership Tuesday.
"We offered to help them if they let us; promised we would stop them if they made us."
By all accounts, Stollsteimer says, the program has been a success.
"We have reduced the number of gun homicides by 68%. The overall number of shootings are down by 65%."
For those numbers, he credits programs they've implemented, from job training to basketball camps. Officials say the next step toward reducing violent crimes further is to revitalize playgrounds and open up green spaces.
"We've helped over 66 individuals find their way to a new life by using over $20,000 of grant funding to help them with things like transportation, job training, sometimes paying rent … just keeping people on the good side of the law," he said.
"Over 500 children have been able to take advantage of that program to find something useful to do."
The D.A. says they've also worked with businesses to develop deterrents, installing cameras connected to the city's surveillance system to improve law enforcement response when violent crime does occur.
