WHEREAS, The murder rate in Philadelphia has risen twice as fast as in other large cities and the majority of those murders are committed with guns; and
WHEREAS, Recent incidents have indicated a serious disconnect between various parts of our criminal justice system involving the release of persons on low bail conditions charged with gun-possession who then commit more serious and lethal crimes involving guns; and
WHEREAS, In Philadelphia repeat violent offenders have on occasion received minimal punishment for carrying guns which is the most common weapon used in an overwhelming majority of Philadelphia homicides; and
WHEREAS, In the determination of whether a person is an acceptable candidate for release on bail, it is important to examine their risk to society at large as indicated in prior arrests for gun possession; and
WHEREAS, 40% of inmates released from prison in Pennsylvania in 2004 were returned to jail by 2007; and
WHEREAS, There is a need to establish monitoring and case management strategies for gun violence similar to the national and local systems already in place for convicted sex offenses; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Police Force and FBI started a task force in 2010 to address armed robberies of businesses committed largely by repeat offenders; and
WHEREAS, There should be stricter punishments for violent offenders who illegally own guns because they have proven that they have a propensity for directing their power against other citizens; now therefore,
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it authorizes Council's Committee on Public Safety to hold public hearings to examine bail practices in gun-possession cases and the correlation to future gun-related crimes.
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