Suburban finger-pointing belies the need to unite against crime | Editorial

For the second time in a month, a neighboring official faulted Philadelphia for crimes in their town. The blame game is divisive and sounds like a racially uninformed dog whistle at a time when the region should work together to combat crime.

The first slight occurred on July 4, after a 6-year-old girl was shot in the knee in Camden and a teenager “with ties to Philadelphia” was questioned. Camden County Commissioner Louis Cappelli Jr. offered this Trumpian take: “Thugs and criminals and gun-bearing freaks over in Philadelphia who live in a society of lawlessness — we don’t want you here.”

Then last week, Abington Police Chief Patrick Molloy criticized the city — in particular District Attorney Larry Krasner — after a Philadelphia man was accused of trying to abduct a 14-year-old girl at the Willow Grove Mall.

“This shouldn’t have happened. He should’ve been detained. He should have been in jail,” Molloy said during a news conference, blaming “the failed policies in Philadelphia, with the District Attorney’s Office, where it’s somewhat of a revolving door, where dangerous felons are let back onto the streets to prey upon our citizens.”

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Beyond the ignorance, Molloy’s complaint was misplaced. Turns out the accused abductor was walking free because a judge in Montgomery County — where Abington is located — ordered him released on parole while he was serving an 11 to 23-month sentence.

If anything, the Abington chief should take his beef to the judge in Norristown. But a more responsible course of action would be to understand that Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs make up one region spanning three states whose success and failure are inextricably tied to one another.

Pitting the city against the suburbs is a tiring pastime that has been entertained for too long, with no winners on either side. Local officials would be wise to work together to strengthen ties, improve safety, and attract businesses to better compete with other regions nationally and internationally.

Most individuals and businesses understand that life does not stop or start at the city or county lines. We’re all part of one metropolitan region. Indeed, more than 240,000 suburban residents work in Philadelphia, while about 225,000 city residents do the reverse commute to the suburbs.

Philadelphia is the economic and cultural hub for the region. The city’s skyline, universities, hospitals, museums, concert halls, tourist attractions, restaurants, and sports teams give the region much of its dynamism and identity.

Of course, no place is perfect. The record gun violence in Philadelphia is beyond distressing. But mainly Republican state and federal lawmakers — many of whom represent suburban districts — share responsibility for enabling and glorifying gun culture.

Local TV news shares some blame as well for disproportionately covering gun crimes in the city. That negative narrative shapes the views of many who act as if bullets are flying everywhere in Philadelphia when nearly all of the more than 1.5 million residents manage to go about their routines each day.

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In fact, rural counties have a higher rate of gun deaths than cities — contrary to country singer Jason Aldean’s recent paean to small town life. Not to mention, most mass shootings occur in small towns, studies show, while a separate report found Center City, at least, remained “remarkably safe.”

Mayor Jim Kenney’s response to Chief Molloy struck the right tone: “It’s telling when anyone describes a complex and enormous issue like crime or violence as belonging to any one city … we’re only going to succeed if we’re willing to work together on a shared vision of public safety across all communities.”

By comparison, after an 18-year-old Bucks County man was charged with murdering a Temple University police officer earlier this year, no city official blamed the crime on failed suburban policies. At the same time, Philadelphia may want to reach out to Camden to find how it has dramatically reduced its murder rate.

Back when Amazon was searching to build a second headquarters, city, state and suburban officials and business leaders came together like never before to forge a unified and impressive pitch that put Philadelphia on the short list.

Philadelphia did not win the competition, but the exercise showed what the region can do when it works as one. That same can-do spirit should apply to tackling crime and violence.