PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Kenney administration unveiled updates to its violence prevention plan on Wednesday, in the wake of skyrocketing homicides and shootings in Philadelphia.
Mayor Jim Kenney proposed a $19 million increase in spending on the plan in next year's budget.
The Roadmap to Safer Communities, as the plan is called, was created in 2019 after Kenney declared violent crime a public health crisis.
Related
Erica Atwood, senior director of the city's Office of Policy and Strategic Initiatives for Criminal Justice and Public Safety, says the escalating violence amid the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the update.
"Given the tidal wave of challenges we saw, we had to really, seriously look at whether we were knocked off track, or if we had to rebuild the track because it was washed away," Atwood said.
The answer appears to be a bit of both.
Related
The new plan puts more money in existing strategies such as group violence intervention. It also adds new features, including a redesign of how the Philadelphia Police Department responds to behavioral health crises. That includes 911 training to better identify such calls, and the creation of co-responder teams pairing a police officer with a mental health professional. The plan also calls for a $7 million expansion of the crisis hotline and mobile crisis teams.
The plan also expands community outreach with a number of new partnerships, such as the Next Gen Task Force and the Police Youth Advisory Commission. It increases investment in existing programs such as targeted community investment grants and a rapid-employment program targeting those most at risk of being involved in violence.
Related
"This program seeks to create new opportunities for these individuals, so they can change their life trajectory," Atwood added.
Police will continue to use Operation Pinpoint, focusing on crime hotspots for enforcement. Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw says her goal is to reduce shootings and homicides in those areas by 25% a year, which would reduce citywide violence by 30% by 2023.