Though gun violence tends to worsen with the summer heat, Philadelphia is experiencing its most peaceful season in nearly a decade.
Through August 11, 440 fewer people had been shot compared to the same time last year, marking a 39.2 percent decline, according to data from the City Controller’s Office. Homicides are also plummeting. As of August 13, there had been 167 slayings in 2024, representing a 37 percent decline from the 265 recorded at the same time last year, according to Philadelphia Police Department data. The last time killings were that low by the second week of August was in 2015.
[This story was originally published by The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in America. Sign up for its newsletters here.]
Gun deaths are down nationally with the exception of people under the age of 18. But in Philadelphia, youth are included in the reprieve. Through August 11, there were 30 fewer shootings of teens and children compared to the same time last year, down from 120 to 90.
The sharp drop in shootings this year is a continuation of last year’s decline, which saw 410 homicides, a 20 percent dip from 514 in 2022. In the throes of Covid and social unrest sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, Philadelphia recorded 563 homicides in 2021, a record high.
The downward trend, though, is little comfort for those whose loved ones were slain in recent years, and whose killers are still unaccounted for, said Stanley Crawford, who in 2020 helped to found the Families of Unsolved Murders Project.
There have been 2,045 unsolved murders and 425 solved murders dating back to 2014, according to the Philadelphia Police Department’s unsolved murders website.
“We should not rest on our laurels and pat ourselves on the back when we have so much murder and mayhem still occuring,” said Crawford, whose son was fatally shot in 2018 by a man who has been arrested and charged with four different murders. “Unsolved murders perpetuate more murders. Unsolved shootings perpetuate more shootings.”
Kingsessing Strong
Amid intermittent heavy rainfall on August 8, neighbors, police officers, and politicians mingled and enjoyed picnic food on the 6000 block of Trinity Street in Kingsessing, a working-class, predominantly Black Southwest Philly community.
While those gathered gleefully participated in National Night Out, an annual community-building event created to foster bonds between cops and communities, past attacks in the area left some guarded about the city’s improved gun-violence statistics. On July 4, two blocks away, a drive-by mass shooting left one person dead and eight others injured. A year earlier, on July 2 and 3, a shooter wearing body armor and wielding an AR-15–style rifle and pistol — both homemade ghost guns — stalked strangers in the neighborhood, killing five and injuring two.
“I still hear some shootings. It’s getting a little better, but it’s still a mess,” said Lois Chittick, 70, who has lived on the block for 50 years and serves on the 60th and Trinity Street Block Committee. “Honestly, the police are really trying, and the mayor, but how much can they do? How many places can they be?”
Gun deaths are down nationally with the exception of people under the age of 18. But in Philadelphia, youth are included in the reprieve. Through August 11, there were 30 fewer shootings of teens and children compared to the same time last year, down from 120 to 90.
Marsha Wall, 72, the block captain who also has lived on Trinity Street for 50 years, said she and her neighbors have worked hard to forge relationships with police and city officials. They’ve also sought to help make their corner of Kingsessing as safe and pleasant as possible. The sharp decline in shootings, Wall said, fills her with optimism. “This is a unified block in what we do. We try to keep it clean and we’re engaged in what’s going on in the community,” she said from her porch, as rain doused the celebrants while police officers, doubling as DJs, kept the music pumping from a porch several houses over.
“Don’t get me wrong, I could have moved several times. But I love the block, my house is comfortable,” Wall said. “Why should I start over somewhere else?”
Captain Joseph Green, who heads the 12th Police District, home to more than 75,000 residents including those on Trinity Street, said he recently gained new insight into community safety.
“I was at Finnegan Recreation Center yesterday to talk to kids about what we do as police officers,” he said. “We asked, ‘What does a safe neighborhood look like to you?’ They said, ‘No trash in the street.’ These are 5-year-old kids. It’s very impactful for us as a police department to recognize what they define as a safe neighborhood.”
As the rain turned to drizzle, Wall surveyed the street. “We weren’t anticipating the rain. We envisioned balloons and a moon bounce for the children. But we made it work,” she said, smiling. “And we’re going to keep going.”
What’s driving down Philly’s shootings?
U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, who stared down the barrel of a carjacker’s gun in South Philadelphia in December 2021, warmly greeted Wall, Chittick, and other Trinity Street residents. The Democrat, whose district includes Southwest Philadelphia and suburban communities, said she believes the millions of dollars the city spent to launch anti-gun violence programs during the pandemic, like Group Violence Intervention, are playing a major part in reducing shootings.
“We think that the progress that we’re seeing here in Philly and Chester and some other places, goes beyond just the end of the pandemic, because we’re really focusing resources on trying to address these root causes,” she said. “We have increasingly seen that there are things that work, and we just need to fund them.”
Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, whose district includes Kingsessing, stopped by to present city citations to block leaders for helping to keep their community safe. Johnson, like Scanlon, trumpeted the city’s financial investments as key to driving down shootings, as well as the establishment of better communication channels between Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration, the police, city prosecutors, and community groups.
“We need to double down on our efforts,” he said. “We want to make sure that the reductions that we’re seeing continue.”
While pockets and stretches of Philadelphia are still dangerous — nine people were shot, three fatally, at a July 21 West Philly block party; four men were fatally shot in four different incidents on August 7 — people whose lives and livelihoods require them to frequent high-crime areas said they’re sensing the decline in gunfire.
Andre Boyer, owner of Pennsylvania S.I.T.E. State Agents, a private protection agency which employs 25 armed guards who protect gas stations, hotels, grocery stores, and places of worship around the city, said the incidents of armed robberies and other crimes are at record lows where his people are stationed.
“We’re seeing a helluva lot less bad people. No crime, almost zero,” said Boyer, a former Philadelphia police officer.
He said his agents’ presence keeps his clients’ properties safe, but added that he’s not certain what accounts for the sharp decline citywide.
“Maybe people are listening and they’re saying, ‘It’s just not worth it to pick up a gun and shoot somebody.’ I can’t say it’s because of the programs the DA put out there, or because of what the mayor is doing. Now, if we have these same numbers next year, I can say it’s because of what the system is doing,” he said. “Let’s just wait and see what happens.”
Mensah Dean is a staff writer at The Trace. Previously he was a staff writer on the Justice & Injustice team at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he focused on gun violence, corruption and wrongdoing in the public and private sectors for five years. Mensah also covered criminal courts, public schools and city government for the Philadelphia Daily News, the Inquirer’s sister publication.
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