WHEREAS, On February 11, 2004, 10-year old Faheem Thomas-Childs was shot and killed while walking to Thomas M. Pierce Elementary School and this senseless killing of this bright third-grade student led to several vigils, marches, and community events held in remembrance of Faheem and to cry out against the violence ravaging too many of our neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, State Representative Dwight Evans, one of the various leaders affected by this tragedy, convened a meeting of state legislative leaders, top federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, and community leaders to discuss strategies to stop the violence that had taken the lives of too many of Philadelphia’s youth; and
WHEREAS, As a result of this meeting, a legislative action plan was developed with an emphasis on curbing violence and through this plan the District Attorney’s Office produced a document called a “Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia” (“Blueprint”), which detailed 10 initiatives to immediately impact and reduce the level of gun violence in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Some of the initiatives of the Blueprint are an expansion of the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership, which targets the City’s most dangerous and at-risk younger citizens for intensive monitoring, creation of the Safe Neighborhood Initiative, which involved the hiring of police officers with specialized training to work with the ATF, state and federal prosecutors, and probation and parole officers to intensely supervise young adults in high-crime police districts, creation of the Community Education and Involvement Program, which involved various initiatives to reach out to at-risk populations through personal and community involvement and advertising, including faith-based organizations, and creation of Gun Courts, dedicated to gun cases, thus giving priority to cases involving firearms; and
WHEREAS, Representative Evans and various elected and law enforcement officials secured $12.45 million in state funds to, among other things, support the Blueprint’s programs, convene a working group, led by public health expert Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith of Harvard University, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Blueprint’s 10 initiatives, create and analyze the results of the Blueprint’s focus groups, and develop and initiate a significant public awareness campaign to combat the perils of gun violence; and
WHEREAS, The Blueprint, as a major public policy initiative, is needed more than ever considering the recent news reports that approximately 346 homicides occurred in Philadelphia in 2005 (compared to 330 for 2004), 74 percent of homicides were caused by handguns, and 60 percent of the homicide victims were 30 or younger; now therefore be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Council Committees on Public Safety and Public Health and Human Services hold hearings regarding the findings and recommendations of the “Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia,” and, further authorizing the Committees to seek advice and recommendations on how Philadelphia can reduce and eliminate crime.
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