R. Seth Williams installed as Philadelphia D.A.

At a swearing-in ceremony attended by more than 1,000 people and punctuated by cheers and applause, Philadelphia's first African American district attorney, R. Seth Williams, vowed to fix a "broken" justice system and "make Philadelphia the safest big city in America."

Achieving that goal would mark a complete reversal of the city's current status as a place with high crime rates where criminals often walk free.

At his inauguration yesterday in Verizon Hall, Williams, 43, said he would improve conviction rates, especially for violent offenders. "Four years from now, we will not have the lowest conviction rate in the country," he said.

He cited an Inquirer investigative series in December reporting that Philadelphia had the highest violent-crime rate among big cities - and the nation's lowest felony-conviction rate.

"The Philadelphia criminal-justice system is broken," Williams said, despite the hard work of "dedicated and underpaid public servants who toil hard every day."

Appropriately, musicians played a few notes to the theme from Rocky during the hour-and-45-minute ceremony, at which Alan L. Butkovitz, reelected as city controller, and 28 judges also were sworn in.

Williams is not only Philadelphia's first African American district attorney but also the first in the state.

When Philadelphia City Council Majority Leader Marian B. Tasco, who led the ceremony, mentioned that fact yesterday, the crowd erupted in applause.

Mayor Nutter noted that he, Williams, and Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey are "three African American men" who are now in charge of lowering the crime rate.

"We must come to grips with what I have referred to in the past as black genocide," Nutter said.

For African Americans between the ages of 15 and 44, homicide is by far the leading cause of death, Nutter said.

Williams suggested that his own story - born to an unwed mother who gave him up for adoption - could provide hope to some of the young people whose lives he hopes to influence as district attorney.

"I've had a very long journey from the orphanage to the Kimmel Center," he said, and that "route was one paved with prayer."

He thanked the woman who adopted him, Imelda Williams, who attended his inauguration. Seth Williams said he proudly uses R as his first initial because he was named for his adoptive father, Rufus Williams, who is deceased.

"It's tough being Rufus in the first grade. Kids call you Rufus the Doofus," he said. ". . . But I was named for my father, and he was named for an uncle that was a runaway slave."

A graduate of Pennsylvania State University and Georgetown University's law school, Williams is married with three daughters. A former assistant district attorney, he most recently was "of counsel" to the law firm Stradley, Ronon, Stevens, & Young L.L.P.

Williams also thanked his predecessor, Lynne M. Abraham, who did not run for reelection but attended the ceremony. The two have not gotten along since Williams tried to unseat Abraham in 2005, and Williams has said the transition has not been smooth. After the ceremony, he would not elaborate.

Yesterday, Abraham, who held the district attorney post for 18 years, said she would announce plans today to join a law firm. She also said she likely would run for office in the future but would not say which one.

Williams said he would ask Nutter for more funds to help him prevent and prosecute crime.

The District Attorney's Office has a yearly budget of about $30 million, with 300 assistant prosecutors and 250 support staff.

Though the city is in the middle of a budget crisis, Williams said he thought the District Attorney's Office could find inexpensive ways to do a better job. One example: using text messaging and e-mail to notify witnesses of court dates. Currently, Williams said, some witnesses miss court dates because notifications arrive too late by regular mail.

Williams said he would name Joseph McGettigan, who works in the U.S. Attorney's Office, as his first assistant, replacing Arnold Gordon.

In addition to improving conviction rates, Williams said, he would work on preventing crime and has talked about working with schools to make sure children graduate.

"Being smart on crime does mean reducing truancy, the gateway to crime," he said.

Williams also said his plans called for "relentless focus on prosecution of violence and violent offenders," intervention in the lives of young offenders to get them back on the right path, and "the highest level of support for victims and families."

Philadelphia NAACP president J. Whyatt Mondesire, who has known Williams for many years, praised the new district attorney's lofty goals.

"The tragedy of leadership in Philadelphia is that too often we elect people who have small vision," Mondesire said after he attended the ceremony. "This is a big morsel to bite . . . but at least it points us in the right direction."