PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Gun violence in the city typically peaks in the summer months, but the number of shootings and homicides in Philadelphia is trending downward this summer, and city officials believe there are a few reasons why.
Between June 1 and Aug. 31, 2021, there were 683 victims of gun violence. Of those victims, 121 people were killed, according to data from the city controller’s office. In the same period of time a year later, 677 people were shot, 138 of them fatally.
However, in the same period of time this year, 451 people were shot. And of those victims, 102 were killed.
Among those victims, 54 are children 17 and under. Five kids died.
Calvin Johnson Jr., 16, was shot several times throughout his body on June 9 in Strawberry Mansion.
Laron Williams, 12, collapsed as he ran toward his house after he and two adults were gunned down on June 22 in Germantown.
Daujan Brown, 15, was killed in the July 3 mass shooting in Kingsessing as he tended to his 13-year-old friend, who had been wounded and who survived.
A 2-year-old girl was accidentally killed on July 27 when another kid got his hands on a gun that had been left loaded and unlocked.
And 12-year-old Hezekiah Bernard’s body was found on Aug. 23 in a trash container in Powelton Village, two or three days after he was shot in the head.
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Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore says the rate of solved homicides is the highest it has been in years — at 58%. “It’s a very significant jump.”
Vanore says he thinks a lot of cases are being solved because homicide detectives are working very closely with the Department's new nonfatal shooting investigation group, examining connections between fatal and nonfatal cases.
“They are solving cases together. And I do think it’s working,” Vanore said, adding the clearance rate for non-fatal shooting cases is up almost 28%.
It all helps get some of the violent offenders off the street. A higher clearance rate means more people who may be involved in gun violence are in jail instead, awaiting trial.
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Vanore believes another factor is a re-allocation of officers. The Department has about 1,000 fewer officers than before the COVID pandemic, so Philadelphia police commanders pulled veteran officers from administrative positions and plugged them into patrols in districts with higher rates of gun violence to maximize coverage in those areas.
“Adding people to those areas kind of fortifies our coverage and kind of drives our numbers down, because those were the districts that were driving the crime,” Vanore said.
“These are veteran officers. These are officers that have done it. And when we called on them, we met with them in the beginning, we explained why we were doing it, it wasn’t a punishment — we really need them,” he said. “They jumped right in, and I think it’s really worked well, with the changes we made with investigation, technology — and now the deployment personnel stuff really helps.”
Vanore says police leaders think the strategy is deterring violence and chipping away at the numbers.
“Our presence out there, we hope, is deterring the crime — having more officers on the street,” said Vanore, adding that the 399th class of the Philadelphia Police Academy was just sworn in on Aug. 25, adding 29 more officers to the roster.