Title
Authorizing the Council Committees on Public Safety and Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings regarding the findings and recommendations of the "Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia," and, further authorizing the Committees to seek advice and recommendations on how Philadelphia can reduce and eliminate crime affecting the City's youth.
Body
WHEREAS, On February 11, 2004, 10-year old Faheem Thomas-Childs was shot and killed while walking to Thomas M. Pierce Elementary School and this senseless killing of this bright third-grade student led to several vigils, marches, and community events held in remembrance of Faheem and to cry out against the violence ravaging too many of our neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, State Representative Dwight Evans, one of the various leaders affected by this tragedy, convened a meeting of state legislative leaders, top federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, and community leaders to discuss strategies to stop the violence that had taken the lives of too many of Philadelphia's youth; and
WHEREAS, As a result of this meeting, a legislative action plan was developed with an emphasis on curbing violence and through this plan the District Attorney's Office produced a document called a "Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia" ("Blueprint"), which detailed 10 initiatives to immediately impact and reduce the level of gun violence in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Some of the initiatives of the Blueprint are an expansion of the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership, which targets the City's most dangerous and at-risk younger citizens for intensive monitoring, creation of the Safe Neighborhood Initiative, which involved the hiring of police officers with specialized training to work with the ATF, state and federal prosecutors, and probation and parole officers to intensely supervise young adults in high-crime police districts, creation of the Community Education and Involvement Program, which involved various init...
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