Philadelphia mayoral candidates Brown, DeLeon, and Gym offer their public safety plans

Philadelphia is in the midst of a crime and public safety crisis. Last year saw over 500 murders and 2,000 shootings. This year began with shots fired right outside City Hall. With Mayor Jim Kenney already looking forward to his departure (and, perhaps, taking a nice long siesta in Madrid), it will be up to Philadelphia’s next mayor to tackle the crisis.

Given this, I have asked all the candidates for mayor to explain their approach to public safety, and to differentiate what they would do from current city practices.

In this installment, State Rep. Amen Brown, former Judge James M. DeLeon, and former Councilmember Helen Gym offer their own solutions for how to end the city’s gun violence epidemic.

I fully support the gun violence prevention programs, but we have to be smart about what accountability looks like.

One of the things that I would like to see moving forward is mechanisms in place where groups show the current status of the community they are going to serve: How many shootings, robberies, and carjackings. Then, after they implement their program, show where things are a year later. If there is no change, then the next year we go a different direction.

What my constituents are saying is that the same old organizations are getting rewarded and getting the money, but nothing is changing. Bodies are still dropping.

We need a social media task force. Social media is a driving force for crime. Gangs are making public their scoreboard of who they’ve killed. We need to invest in programs and people to be the watchdogs on social media so we know what’s going on and can intervene before violent crimes are committed. That’s meeting people where they actually are.

The mayor is responsible for the welfare and well-being of all citizens. In 2022, there were over 1,800 people who survived shootings and over 500 people who were killed. This is unnecessary carnage, and it is affecting the lives and well-being of all Philadelphians.

I propose that all these shootings be designated as dramatic incidents, and that we activate what’s known as a Local Incident Management System. That system would operate under a Commissioner of Public Safety, whose job would be to coordinate the necessary resources to reduce the problem.

With the court system involved, we can discuss enacting a social media ban and a curfew ban on everyone arrested. Case law shows the constitutionality of enacting a social media ban on children.

The people we arrest would receive job and crisis management training, mentoring, counseling, as well as mental health and PTSD treatment. Neighborhood groups would be funded to provide these services. These mechanisms, working in tandem, would increase the probability of reducing gun violence.

It’s clear what’s missing and what I would do differently.

Leadership that ensures accountability and that everyone is working towards a common goal. Proven interventions toward those who are most likely to harm others and themselves be harmed. And then, support for victims and those impacted by violence. This is not currently happening.

On day one, I will declare a state of emergency and focus all city departments on the common goal of community safety. What that means is that every Monday begins with a cabinet meeting where every department head reports on what they are doing to improve safety in our communities.

I will declare a state of emergency and focus all city departments on the common goal of community safety.

I want to start by thanking the men and women in blue because each and every day they wake up to protect and serve people that they don’t even know. That is very commendable.

But I don’t agree with the assessment. I believe that there’s a lot more that we could be doing.

For example, automatic license plate scanners. Each police precinct barely has any of those. That’s a tool to scan license plates for stolen cars. We just reached 1,300 carjackings and stolen vehicles in 2022. But we don’t have the proper tools.

I was just able to acquire a $25 million grant from the state to invest in forensic science. That’s what’s going to help lift us out of lawlessness.

You are not doing everything in your power if you are not counseling with the court administration on gun violence and how to reduce it.

It’s not what more can the police do, it’s what the mayor’s office, City Council, and the courts can do to help police. I would like to seriously research and propose a buffer between the police and the community, similar to community coaches in the Netherlands, where they would be trained to go out on non-criminal matters. Their training would include mental health, crisis management, and PTSD recognition.

We have to get the courts involved. My conversation with the court administration is that the mayor’s office has never reached out for any counseling on the gun violence issues we have in our city.

It’s not what more can the police do, it’s what the mayor’s office, City Council, and the courts can do to help police.

The No. 1 priority of my administration is to make sure that people are safe and that they feel safe in their communities. I will ensure that the departments get support from a visible and effective federal-county task force to take illegal guns off the streets and target major dealers. I want to prioritize increasing the clearance rate on homicides and shootings. We have to bring perpetrators to justice. When people call for help, they must know that help is on the way. I will get right to work on reducing 911 response times and ensuring that mobile crisis units I advocated for on City Council are actually responding to mental health emergencies. I’m focused on redeploying foot patrols and putting officers back in our neighborhoods. And I will overhaul how we handle domestic violence.

I also want to be clear that under my watch we will not roll back the clock on civil rights.

I’ve been speaking to community residents, and they want change today. They understand investing in programs and ideas that are for the long term, but they want change now.

What I intend to do is send a clear message to these drug dealers that we are coming to take that community back, in full force.

It is also investing heavily in an aggressive blight removal program and beautification program. Improve lighting in that community. Doing things like that will show the Kensington community that we do see you, we do care about you, and you are not forgotten.

Send a clear message to these drug dealers that we are coming to take that community back, in full force

Kensington also needs a Local Incident Management System. There are many, many good organizations working there, and they need the funding and resources that a LIMS would provide. It would cut the red tape and get immediate help and services to all affected so we can get that neighborhood up and running better. We need to get ongoing mental health, drug treatment, crisis management, and PTSD treatment for those citizens. They deserve that.

The crisis in Kensington is unacceptable. It must not, and will not, be normalized. I’ll start by guaranteeing that children have safe routes to schools. If the city shut down twice a day, two hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and made sure that every single one of our young people knew that all eyes were on them, we’d not only be a safer city, we’d be a better society.

More counselors and social workers in schools in Kensington to help deal with the trauma and break the cycles of violence. I’m also going to make sure there are safe havens in Kensington for residents. I’m putting all public assets on the table, that includes Parks and Rec centers and libraries open on evenings and weekends. We’re going to reclaim McPherson Square. We’re going to invest in cleaning up and lighting our streets, remediating vacant lots, all these things have been proven to reduce crime and improve health.

I’ll say this too: I see candidates traveling to Kensington and exploiting the situation for campaigns and political stunts, and never once bringing any solutions and sometimes not asking the right questions.

No matter what your zip code is or your income bracket, the solution has to be an equitable one. For people who live, work, play, and do business in Philadelphia, there’s no way we can thrive in this current state of lawlessness. I don’t think one neighborhood should get more or less than another.

Operating a well-coordinated Local Incident Management System program in the neighborhoods most hit by violence is going to help Center City and keep it safe. We also balance the need by ensuring we provide the necessary education and job resources to the neighborhoods that are most in need. If we implement my programs, Center City will be safe. But while we implement these programs, we will provide the necessary police presence through the coordination of forces in Center City.

I’m focused on strategies that deliver increased safety for residents and visitors alike. I’m going to redeploy foot patrols and put officers on the street. We have a mental health crisis in our city. So, we must prioritize housing. We must remove barriers to treatment for both addiction and mental health needs.

My state of emergency is going to focus on streets, public safety, and SEPTA because people use them every day and must know that they are safe.

No part of our city is more deserving of safety than another. As Mayor, I’m going to make it my mission that safety, peace, and prosperity goes to Center City and every single one of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods.

Morale is low in the Police Department. I talk to dozens of officers a week. I’m at crime scene after crime scene all over the city, trying to be supportive for victims and law enforcement.

They don’t feel supported. They need to know that city leadership has their back. That’s not where they are mentally right now. Their hands are tied.

We have to look at what’s been working in the past and what’s not been working. We need to streamline the hiring process, but we also need scholarships and incentives for folks in colleges in the city and the surrounding counties if they join our police force. We have to look at the police exam. It is outdated. It hasn’t been updated since 1993.

We need recruiting in Black communities. You see them recruiting on the outskirts of the city. My son is 7 years old. He wants to be a cop. He’s going to be a damn good one.

I would ask the citizens for their help. I would ask specifically for people to come join the force and join me in making Philadelphia a better and safer city.

I would also look at why police officers can’t come in similarly to how our young people come into the armed forces. When you join the armed forces, you do not take a polygraph, you come straight in. So, I would look at the reasons why we all of a sudden are giving a polygraph and why we can’t put that to the side so we can get some competent people in, rather than having those competent people go into the armed services. I’m a veteran, I would love competent people going into the armed services, but I need them here in the city also.

Filling vacancies is an absolute matter of public safety. I’m focused on clearing barriers to recruitment and reforming the flawed programs that have currently kept hundreds of officers off duty. I’ve consistently challenged the abuses within the Heart and Lung program. I introduced legislation that will help us fill police vacancies by revising that flawed residency requirement for city jobs, which has eliminated a huge number of applicants to the police force. It’s just not done in any other major city. My legislation would require people to move to Philadelphia once they have accepted a position rather than require that they live here for a year before even being eligible to apply for a city job.

I also want officers to know that as mayor, I will show up with them as they meet with residents, including on bike and on foot. I want to make sure that we are delivering on our promises for a safer Philadelphia. This is not going to be their responsibility alone. They’re going to have me by their side, and our communities will see me there too.

I do think knowing that there is a mayor who is present, visible, who shows up and is focused on community safety will go a long way towards improving recruitment, establishing a culture of accountability, and creating a better vision for what safety looks like in our city.