Title
Recognizing Philadelphia CeaseFire for their ongoing violence-reduction efforts in the City of Philadelphia.
Body
WHEREAS, Dedicated and sustained work from a broad coalition of anti-violence activists, law enforcement agencies, religious leaders, businesspeople and many others has contributed to a multi-year downward trend of violent incidents in the City, including gun homicides; and
WHEREAS, Despite this commendable work and the heartening progress that has been made thus far, violent incidents, particularly those which involve firearms and young people, are still occurring at unacceptably high levels, causing devastation to our families and placing tremendous strain on the limited resources of our institutions; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia CeaseFire began its campaign in 2011, at the Center for Bioethics, Urban Health & Policy at the Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, joining dozens of organizations and hundreds of individuals already working to mitigate the City’s violence epidemic; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia CeaseFire is a replication site of the national public health organization Cure Violence, previously known as Chicago CeaseFire, which developed a structured, deliberate, and disciplined violence intervention strategy based on the premise of violence as a preventable public health issue; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia CeaseFire’s approach is evidence-based and has been proven to be effective in the reduction of homicides and shootings in Philadelphia’s 22nd and 39th Police Districts; and
WHEREAS, Their program includes efforts to heighten community awareness about gun violence and encourage area residents as well as community, business and religious leaders to work toward reducing violence, especially shootings and homicides; and
WHEREAS, Crucial to the success of Philadelphia CeaseFire is their choice of the most appropriate and effective people to deliver their anti-violence message directly to high-risk individuals, including CeaseFire staff, the program manager, outreach supervisor, outreach workers, and violence interrupters; and
WHEREAS, These staffers, many of whom once were involved in the violence they now seek to prevent, spend 80% of their time outside of the office, employing direct intervention strategies to mediate conflicts and prevent interpersonal violence which is often the cause of shootings and killings in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, One such employee is Rasheed Smith, whose compelling story, including a felony gun charge at the age of sixteen, the harsh wakeup call of imprisonment and successful transition into the community, was recently told by Shawnette Wilson of FOX 29; and
WHEREAS, We salute and thank Mr. Smith, his colleagues, and the rest of the CeaseFire team for all of the brave, tireless, face-to-face work that they do to prevent and reduce violence, and we share the hope that one day, such efforts will no longer be necessary; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council does hereby recognize Philadelphia CeaseFire for their ongoing violence-reduction efforts in the City of Philadelphia.
End