City of Philadelphia - File #: 130337

• File #: 130337
• Version: 0
• Type: Resolution
• Status: ADOPTED
• File created: 4/25/2013
• In control: Committee on Public Safety
• Title: Authorizing Council's Committee on Public Safety to hold public hearings regarding the implementation of a focused deterrence program citywide in Philadelphia to reduce gun violence, the creation of an Office of Violence Reduction and the appointment of an executive director and appropriate staff to such an office.
• Sponsors: Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Johnson, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Goode, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Squilla, Councilmember Bass, Councilmember Tasco, Councilmember Greenlee, Council President Clarke, Councilmember Oh, Councilmember Green, Councilmember Kenney, Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez, Councilmember Henon, Councilmember Reynolds Brown, Councilmember O'Neill
• Indexes: VIOLENCE REDUCTION

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
2/10/2014	0	Committee on Public Safety	HEARING NOTICES SENT
2/10/2014	0	Committee on Public Safety	HEARING HELD
2/10/2014	0	Committee on Public Safety	RECESSED
4/25/2013	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Ordered Placed on This Week's Final Passage Calendar	Pass
4/25/2013	0	CITY COUNCIL	ADOPTED & REFERRED

Title
Authorizing Council's Committee on Public Safety to hold public hearings regarding the implementation of a focused deterrence program citywide in Philadelphia to reduce gun violence, the creation of an Office of Violence Reduction and the appointment of an executive director and appropriate staff to such an office.

Body
WHEREAS, In 2012, Philadelphia had 334 homicides and 1,279 shootings. This year in Philadelphia there have been over 4,300 violent crimes. This number includes 76 homicides, 307 rapes and 760 gun robberies; and

WHEREAS, Violent crime is concentrated in a limited number of areas, also known as "hotspots" and is committed by a small percent of the criminal population, prolific violent offenders; and

WHEREAS, Many of these offenders are members of loosely associated groups or gangs. A large percentage of the shootings in Philadelphia are committed by group members with a variety of motives including: arguments, disrespect and the drug trade; and

WHEREAS, Cities across the United States have achieved significant reductions in violent crime and improvements in the quality of life for neighborhoods plagued by violent crime by pursuing violence reduction strategies focused on violent groups, their individual members and the hotspots where they operate; and

WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office and other law enforcement and city partners are currently pursuing a violence reduction strategy based on these same principles known as focused deterrence; and

WHEREAS, Focused Deterrence is not a program or an initiative, it is a strategy. This strategy seeks to reduce violence quickly and dramatically by influencing the behavior of the small number of street groups; and

WHEREAS, Focused Deterrence was developed by David Kennedy, PhD of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. This approach is a multi-agency collaboration with the community. Standi...