• Knox’s senior advisor said Knox’s approach would be to increase social services and economic development to bring more and better paying jobs into communities that need it the most as a long-term solution to violence.
• Fattah, who announced his candidacy last month, said in January he would announce a major violence reduction program.
One thing three of the candidates agreed upon was that Philadelphia’s police force is undermanned for United States’ fourth-largest city.
As of Tribune press time, there have been more than 1,700 shootings in the city and 384 homicides, while the city’s police force numbers at approximately 6,400 officers.
State Rep. Dwight Evans
Evans, who has held a series of community meetings to find out from residents what they think is needed to turn the tide of violence, said without hesitation that Philadelphia needs to expand its police force.
He said, based on what he’s heard from the communities, that a stronger and more visible police presence is the number one issue raised by residents – especially those in high-crime areas.
But, Evans added he would invite Timoney to return to Philadelphia.
“My first official act as mayor would be to hire 500 more police officers, that’s the one thing I hear over and over in the community meetings,” he said. “People want more police on the streets, they want a highly visible police force out there.
“The second thing I would do is to enforce quality of life issues and get the illegal guns off the streets,” he said. “Criminals need to know that if they get caught carrying an illegal gun they’re going to jail. As mayor I would also invite John Timoney to return as police commissioner. His experience in New York, Philadelphia and Miami proves he has the experience to bring innovative policing to the city.”
He also cited last week’s shooting outside the newly-built Pearl Theatre as a prime example of a major economic development strategy that would be imperiled if the community its in is not a safe one.
“There’s no substitute for a visible police presence,” Evans said. “We need to increase the Philadelphia Housing Authority and SEPTA police forces too. I would also call a special session of City Council specifically to address quality of life issues. It’s also necessary that the business community play it’s role and I would form a committee to make sure that every construction site in the city is open to everyone to participate, we’re talking about minorities and women. Without good paying jobs people don’t have hope. We can make this city safer but we have to do it block-by-block and neighborhood-by-neighborhood. Stopping the violence has to be the mayor’s singular purpose.”
Businessman Tom Knox
Knox, a democratic contender for the big chair, was unavailable for direct comment.
Knox was a deputy mayor for the Office of Management and Productivity under Gov. Ed Rendell and is a successful businessman.
His senior advisor, David Dunphy, said Knox favors putting more police on the streets – that a stronger and visible police presence is a deterrent to crime.
But Dunphy also said the city couldn’t arrest its way out of the problem, a comment that Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson has emphasized many times in community meetings. He said increased social services and economic development to create more jobs would help eliminate crime in the long-term.
“We need more police and we need them on the streets,” Dunphy said. “We are under 6,400 police officers and we were well over 7,000 a few years ago. We also need a 21st-century police force. Now we are not going to arrest our way out of this, more police officers is just the short-term solution. It’s no coincidence that the hotspots in the city for violence and crime also reflect a high drop out rate and areas in need of economic development. That shooting at the Pearl last week is the kind of thing that can bring to a grinding halt the economic recovery in North Philadelphia. Crime affects us all on every level.”
Dunphy said, in speaking for Knox, the city has not done a very good job of reaching those youths most at risk of dying by violence. He said too many of these young people have no hope and believe that no one cares.
“We have to improve the educational system in the city. In some neighborhoods there is a 50 percent dropout rate and that’s just not acceptable,” Dunphy said. “If our students don’t know they can accomplish what they set their minds to, they don’t have any hope for a future. They have to know they can be college bound and if they don’t want to go to college then there has to be vocational training available. Too many people, too many young people think the city government doesn’t care about them. To give them hope we need to give people visible opportunities. Tom Knox wants to bring economic development to all the neighborhoods of the city. Either we bring hope or there will be despair.”
U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah
Fattah was unavailable for direct comment to The Tribune for this report, but did release a prepared statement indicating that he is developing his own violence reduction program.
“I grew up in a family devoted to stopping youth violence,” he said. “I’ve spent my legislative career creating opportunities for young people to avoid it. I am unwilling to politicize the fight against violence but as mayor I would continue to find innovative ways to stop it. In January I will announce a major violence reduction initiative that I would implement immediately.”
Former Councilman Michael Nutter
Nutter, who was the first to step forward and announce his candidacy for mayor said in addition to hiring more police officers he would also empower police officers to, within the boundaries of the law, engage in stop and frisk measures in high-crime areas.
But Nutter also took his position a step further and said that it might be necessary for Philadelphia’s future mayor to exercise his powers and declare a limited state of emergency in certain areas of the city.
He also said Mayor John Street has failed to make Philadelphia safer.
“I’m the only one to actually put more police officers on the streets through a resolution passed last spring,” Nutter said. “The city hired 100 new officers, so yes, we do need more police, but in the interim we need to decide how to best deploy and utilize the police officers we have.
“The mayor has the power to declare limited states of emergency in certain areas,” he said. “That means enforcing curfews in high-crime areas, restricting pedestrian movements and the mayor can impose this for a limited time. See, we have to restore order first.”
Nutter added the police department has identified at least 10 hotspots in the city where most of the shootings are taking place.
He also said individuals who have violated parole or probation, for whatever reason, have to be identified and removed from the neighborhoods.
“We have to use aggressive policing to get these people out of the neighborhoods,” Nutter said. “I don’t want any one to think they can walk around with an illegal gun and a well-trained police officer isn’t going to take it away and put them in jail. Mayor Street has failed to protect the citizens of this city. A well-trained police officer can, by observation, conclude if there is a reason to stop and search someone.
“Either we’re going to be serious about this or we’re not,” he said. “Then we have to increase social services, especially for people who are trying to turn their lives around. In this city it’s very hard for someone with a criminal record to get a job and without a job that person is eventually going to end up back in prison. We need enhanced tax credits for those companies that will hire ex-offenders. If you can’t get a job, you can’t turn your life around.” |
