Your questions about the Roxborough shooting, Philly’s gun ban and safety procedures, answered

A fatal shooting after a high school football scrimmage, a newly enacted gun ban at city recreation centers, and possibly a new safety procedure for school events. Conversations about gun violence and safety in Philadelphia are happening right now and it’s hard to keep up.

Let’s break it down.

On Sept. 27, Mayor Jim Kenney signed an executive order to ban all guns and deadly weapons from city recreation centers and playgrounds after 41-year-old Parks and Recreation employee and mother of three, Tiffany Fletcher, was fatally shot while sweeping outside of the Mill Creek Recreation Center in West Philadelphia.

However, this gun ban may not be enacted. On Monday, Oct. 3, the Gun Owners of America won a permanent court injunction against the City of Philadelphia barring the city from enforcing the gun ban.

Where is the ban enforced: All Parks and Recreation facilities, like recreation center buildings, athletic courts, fields, parks, playgrounds and pools.

What is banned: All firearms and deadly weapons, even if a person has a license to carry a firearm.

How the ban is enforced:

Signs will be prominently displayed outlining that weapons are prohibited on Parks and Recreation premises.

» READ MORE: Judge bars Philadelphia from enforcing Mayor Jim Kenney’s ban on guns at rec centers and playgrounds

The executive order does not call for heightened police presence at Parks and Recreation facilities — just that police will be ready to respond and enforce the ban when they need to, outside of their already-established patrols at those locations.

There have been no changes to police policy at this time. According to the police department, the executive order is a directive from the mayor on how police are to handle the possession of weapons in and around recreation centers.

Police should only arrest someone for violating the ban if they refuse to leave. The executive order does not direct police to be stationed at parks and recreation facilities or to search people they believe are violating the ban. However, police are allowed to search people they arrest. Here’s what you need to know about stop and frisk policies in Philly.

Outside of the gun ban, there may be increased police coverage at after-school sporting events in response to the Roxborough High School shooting.

“Numerous factors play into the amount of police personnel needed at certain events, whether they occur on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis,” police said. “Unfortunately we cannot discuss deployments for tactical and safety purposes.”

Passing gun laws in Philadelphia is difficult, as previous attempts to enact gun laws in the city have been shut down by Pennsylvania state legislators for years. Now, even the mayor’s gun ban has been put on hold due to a court injunction.

This is because state law overrides city law when it comes to guns — the legal term is called “preemption.” So, Philly can try to pass gun laws, but if the state General Assembly doesn’t pass its own corresponding laws, then Philly’s proposed laws won’t be enacted.

In the same weekend Tiffany Fletcher was fatally shot, a 17-year-old was killed while walking her dog, a man was killed while getting his groceries, another was killed on an underground trolley platform, and a SEPTA manager was killed outside his home in what police said was a case of mistaken identity.

At Parks and Recreation facilities, there have been almost 300 incidents of gun violence since 2019, and this isn’t the first time city leaders have tried to enact a ban on weapons at playgrounds and rec centers.

After a deadly shooting at a Roxborough high school football scrimmage left four teens injured and one dead — 14-year-old Nicolas Elizalde — police and the school district are discussing changes to police coverage at after-school events.

So far this year, 178 children have been shot, and 23 have died in Philadelphia.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia Police release photos of suspects in Roxborough shooting

Last week, Deputy Police Commissioner Joel Dales said he had requested a list of scrimmages from the district and would be evaluating when and how to cover them, in addition to the already-established policy of deploying officers to football games with spectators.

“We can’t cover them all — there’s numerous scrimmages across the city,” Dales said. “But if we receive any information whatsoever that there may be problems or issues … we will have police officers present.”

The school district has not released an updated safety plan in response to last week’s shooting outside Roxborough High School. The Police Department has begun talks with the district to increase its presence at after-school sports events. School district officials said they have no plans to reduce or end athletic or extracurricular activities.

Here are school safety polices implemented this year:

The school board has two scheduled public meetings this month, Oct. 6 and Oct. 20. Here’s the link to register to speak at a board meeting: philasd.org/schoolboard/speaker-request-form.

In the week after the deadly shooting outside of Roxborough High, the district’s emergency crisis response team and school-based social workers were on-site in impacted schools for students and staff processing the tragedy.

This year’s budget will invest more than $200 million in antiviolence programs and almost $800 million for the Police Department’s budget, both increases from last year.

The city’s Roadmap to Safer Communities includes, among other programs:

» READ MORE: Philly’s gun-violence spending is surging, but many funded programs lack clear goals to show progress

While the city continues to increase spending and efforts on antiviolence programs, City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart in an August report said the majority of spending is for long-term solutions, while only 17% of the budget will go to violence-intervention programs that could have a more immediate impact on stopping gun violence.

One program announced in 2020 that found success in Chicago and other cities is Philadelphia READI, which identifies people at risk of gun violence and connects them to therapy, support services and a year of paid employment in an effort to reduce violence in at-risk neighborhoods.

However, it has yet to launch in Philadelphia.