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COVID has definitely increased crimes as people are suffering to make ends meet. However homicides were increasing before the pandemic, we have 30 murders in January of 2020 before COVID was really on the average US citizens mind. The opioid epidemic is definitely a main cause but also increasing inequality. The city is growing with new residents and jobs however the poorest Philadelphians have not risen with the tide. Most of the new eds and meds jobs require multiple degrees, while the School District still has an abysmal graduation rate not preparing low income Philadelphians for the modern economy. This is why most of the homicides are occurring in already violent neighborhoods like Kensington (probably opioid related) and Strawberry Mansion.
Baltimore is a very interesting case study that I got an in-depth look at while working in West Baltimore with community organizations for a year and a half. In the first half of the 2010's Baltimore had an improving homicide rate and for the first time since deindustrialization the population began to stabilize. The Freddie Gray riots have had a long lasting negative effect on the City, but not in the ways that most conservatives predict crime would increase. There are plenty of reports that after the riots that some police would not stop criminal behavior because they "feared" being charged even though the people responsible for Freddie Grays murder are not in jail. I have personally seen it, in Carrollton Ridge (similar to Kensington) where a police cruiser would sit at an intersection with open air drug dealing and do absolutely nothing, even on their phones. It is also important to remember that Baltimore is EXTREMELY segregated, more so than Philadelphia. There are almost never murders in Canton or Fed Hill.
To improve crime in a way that doesn't overcrowd the jails and is long lasting takes time, there is no quick fix. Police are absolutely part of the solution. More importantly we need to invest in the youth of our city so that they have alternatives to drug dealing and criminal enterprises. This can look like investments in the public schools or PAID internships to expose youth to professions that may not have been accessible to them otherwise. Yes getting dealers off the street is important but if the demand is still there for the drugs, they will find them one way or another. We need to truly invest in opioid addiction treatment while at the same time dealing with the dealers so we attack it at both ends. Basically what I am saying is we need to address the root of the crime along with the actual crime. And that takes time.
COVID has definitely increased crimes as people are suffering to make ends meet. However homicides were increasing before the pandemic, we have 30 murders in January of 2020 before COVID was really on the average US citizens mind. The opioid epidemic is definitely a main cause but also increasing inequality. The city is growing with new residents and jobs however the poorest Philadelphians have not risen with the tide. Most of the new eds and meds jobs require multiple degrees, while the School District still has an abysmal graduation rate not preparing low income Philadelphians for the modern economy. This is why most of the homicides are occurring in already violent neighborhoods like Kensington (probably opioid related) and Strawberry Mansion.
Baltimore is a very interesting case study that I got an in-depth look at while working in West Baltimore with community organizations for a year and a half. In the first half of the 2010's Baltimore had an improving homicide rate and for the first time since deindustrialization the population began to stabilize. The Freddie Gray riots have had a long lasting negative effect on the City, but not in the ways that most conservatives predict crime would increase. There are plenty of reports that after the riots that some police would not stop criminal behavior because they "feared" being charged even though the people responsible for Freddie Grays murder are not in jail. I have personally seen it, in Carrollton Ridge (similar to Kensington) where a police cruiser would sit at an intersection with open air drug dealing and do absolutely nothing, even on their phones. It is also important to remember that Baltimore is EXTREMELY segregated, more so than Philadelphia. There are almost never murders in Canton or Fed Hill.
To improve crime in a way that doesn't overcrowd the jails and is long lasting takes time, there is no quick fix. Police are absolutely part of the solution. More importantly we need to invest in the youth of our city so that they have alternatives to drug dealing and criminal enterprises. This can look like investments in the public schools or PAID internships to expose youth to professions that may not have been accessible to them otherwise. Yes getting dealers off the street is important but if the demand is still there for the drugs, they will find them one way or another. We need to truly invest in opioid addiction treatment while at the same time dealing with the dealers so we attack it at both ends. Basically what I am saying is we need to address the root of the crime along with the actual crime. And that takes time.
Thanks for the well written comment.
Why do cops not deal with drugs the way they did years ago? Today you can be in a number of cities in the U.S. and people are openly using drugs, if not dealing or carrying them around. Bmore and Phily aren't the only cities where you would find cops in the street corner not caring about a drug deal. Something just doesn't seem right today when you have cops not caring about drugs in the cities.
Are cops not getting support from the politicians and their higher ups? Is it a judicial matter where the courts and laws do not take drug offenses seriously now because of lax or liberal policies?
I know this is a huge topic and could be discussed for days, but it just gets so disappointing when I take family or overseas friends into certain cities large and small, and we see people shooting up, or doing a drug transaction right as we come out of a restaurant on the streets.
The other day a 30 year old white guy was holding up a small baggie of white powder up to the street light to look at his score while I was walking my two daughters, and my 7 yr old asked what was he doing. It was super awkward and frustrating. Do politicians even care anymore?
Why do cops not deal with drugs the way they did years ago? Today you can be in a number of cities in the U.S. and people are openly using drugs, if not dealing or carrying them around. Bmore and Phily aren't the only cities where you would find cops in the street corner not caring about a drug deal. Something just doesn't seem right today when you have cops not caring about drugs in the cities.
Are cops not getting support from the politicians and their higher ups? Is it a judicial matter where the courts and laws do not take drug offenses seriously now because of lax or liberal policies?
I know this is a huge topic and could be discussed for days, but it just gets so disappointing when I take family or overseas friends into certain cities large and small, and we see people shooting up, or doing a drug transaction right as we come out of a restaurant on the streets.
The other day a 30 year old white guy was holding up a small baggie of white powder up to the street light to look at his score while I was walking my two daughters, and my 7 yr old asked what was he doing. It was super awkward and frustrating. Do politicians even care anymore?
Because cracking heads over drugs was tried for decades, and it didn't solve the problem. You can't arrest your way out of a drug epidemic, and if you even bothered to look at past examples you can figure this out. Policing and arresting addicts to crap like meth, heroin, etc. doesn't solve their drug problem.
The stakes are higher in these cities- lots of high powered guns in the street, parents not doing a good job. Limited economic opportunities. But look at how many of these politicians in Phila make 100k per year and get arrested for corruption. The problems run deep, as a cop its not really worth sticking your neck out.
The stakes are higher in these cities- lots of high powered guns in the street, parents not doing a good job. Limited economic opportunities. But look at how many of these politicians in Phila make 100k per year and get arrested for corruption. The problems run deep, as a cop its not really worth sticking your neck out.
That's why I can't get behind a lot of these protests or political agendas. No one is talking about poor parenting or limited economic opportunities. Corrupt/inadequate policing needs to be addressed, but is it really our #1 issue? I say NO. If we want to talk about what is holding our communities at large behind, it's poor job opportunities, poor parenting, and bad political leadership. Police issues stem from these core issues, and while policing needs to be improved, it is only treating symptoms that are far from the root issue. And it's all being posed as "systemic racism". Our politicians make decisions and support bills that allow big business to make more money. This affects minorities more than others because minorities are further from keeping their heads above water. But it is affecting everyone to varying degrees. The only hope for the remaining middle class is for people to continue to drive at the less attainable higher-education opportunities such as tech, eds, and meds. But that's not for everyone, especially poorer minority neighborhoods.
We are all on the same capsized boat, but some are poised to be better swimmers. Regardless, we are all facing the same traitorous politics of the Republicans and Democrats.
That's why I can't get behind a lot of these protests or political agendas. No one is talking about poor parenting or limited economic opportunities. Corrupt/inadequate policing needs to be addressed, but is it really our #1 issue? I say NO. If we want to talk about what is holding our communities at large behind, it's poor job opportunities, poor parenting, and bad political leadership. Police issues stem from these core issues, and while policing needs to be improved, it is only treating symptoms that are far from the root issue. And it's all being posed as "systemic racism". Our politicians make decisions and support bills that allow big business to make more money. This affects minorities more than others because minorities are further from keeping their heads above water. But it is affecting everyone to varying degrees. The only hope for the remaining middle class is for people to continue to drive at the less attainable higher-education opportunities such as tech, eds, and meds. But that's not for everyone, especially poorer minority neighborhoods.
We are all on the same capsized boat, but some are poised to be better swimmers. Regardless, we are all facing the same traitorous politics of the Republicans and Democrats.
I'm not discounting the effects of poor parenting, which do extend far beyond the family of the child so mis-raised (to name one place they affect: schooling. Many of the problems we blame the schools for originate outside the classroom)....
...but you had me at "limited economic opportunities".
One subject I think our now-thoroughly-disgraced soon-to-be-ex-President was right in emphasizing was the atrophying of our manufacturing sector.
But that was actually a symptom of a larger disease, that disease being the disappearance of paths into the middle class for those without college degrees.
We used to have many more of those, including mining and heavy industry. I would not advocate for a revival of coal mining on environmental grounds, but I would like to see a comeback in manufacturing in general. Not everyone was meant for academic study, nor should that be the only route to prosperity. Unfortunately, we who have benefited from the meritocracy that gained ground starting in the 1960s have pretty much bent the economy so that this is the case (and I lay much of the blame for this on two sectors: finance and media. I work in one of those sectors).
We need to bend it back so that those who have neither the inclination nor the desire to pursue an academic degree, as well as those whose intelligence lies in other spheres*, have the same shot at the upper tiers as those who do have that academic bent. Trump talked a very good game on this subject, and in going after China on trade, at least moved the ball a little in that direction. But his actual accomplishments did not live up to his rhetoric.
I'm not sure I agree with your characterization of the politics of both parties as "traitorous," but inasmuch as both the Democratic and Republican Establishments have pretty much signed on to the neoliberal finance-driven global economic order (which I also support to some degree), we do have a problem in that there's really no one who can make an authentic case for letting the Forgotten back onto the prosperity merry-go-round.
It's drugs, made worse by poverty, made worse by poor policing approaches, made worse by a shrinking turf.
As we continue gentrifying, the drug turfs are shrinking. This creates more violence as drug cartels more "enthusiastically" defend their turfs, which lines are blurring daily. These people are heavily armed, motivated and ruthless. Factor in poverty where now, you can offer a kid stacks of cash to run corners rather than minimum wage at Wendy's. The draw is powerful. Cops have no idea how to break this cycle. They respond to homicides. They throw up some tape, count the shells, release the details of the murdered and and the perps - 5'8" - 5' 10", dark hoodie, dark jeans, white shoes, 18-26 yrs old. "Any tips? Please call blah, blah, blah"
Until the cycle of poverty is broken and there can be a better opportunity, the draw of the drug trade will be a primary driver of violence.
On the other side, addiction needs to be addressed and the needle moved to SOME degree. There needs to be a drop in demand. It's tough and it'll probably decades of targeted addiction policies to move that needle but it is critical.
Very difficult problem to solve requiring coordinated efforts between multiple agencies. We have nowhere near that right now starting with possibly the worst Chief of Police we've had in decades. Covid aside, she is absolutely ghosting Philadelphia right now when she should be visable on a daily basis. What a miss that pick was.
I like Kenney personally. I have stumbled upon him in Old City several times and tipped a few back with him. Fun and interesting but probably not the best practice for a mayor of one of the largest cities in the country, deep in the throes of economic and homicidal crisis' on a regular basis. It seems like he's mailing it in at the moment. Also not a good look.
I really think the uptick in crime is due to drugs and poverty.
Philadelphia is not the only city seeing it. I akin it to the crack epidemic of the 90s.
It is mostly heroin in this part of the country, other parts of the country are seeing a rise in other synthetic drugs.
Addiction has been rampant with the pandemic and only gotten worst. And many addiction treatment centers have had to reduce capacity due to COVID, so help for many is not even an option.
I also agree that the commissioner is sort of disappointing. Not visible at all, and not showing up like a true leader. Charles Ramsey was excellent and highly respected.
Kenney is blah to me.
I had more faith in him early on, but I think he gets washed out so much by so many special interests that his true voice is rarely heard and his leadership is therefore not present.
I actually just saw him on CNBC, haha. Handles himself well. Man, he hates Trump (not more than me, but it's close).
He could be so much better. Again, I like him as a person and , one paper, I agree with his politics. It just seems like nothing happens to make anything better.
If he could move the needle on violence, schools and poverty, he could be epic (understanding fully how "Captain Obvious" this statement is).
From a development standpoint, Philly was a powder-keg ready for the fuse to light. We have amazing housing stock, ALL the immenities of a mature, major east-coast city, a burgeoning Biotech community that will make us the Silicon Valley of Biotech, Great people and, when not crippled by pandemic, the best food scene in the country, IMHO. The development boom was gonna happen, it was just a matter of time.
Our biggest challenge from a development perspective is managing the growth enough to avoid becoming NYC. That place is ridiculous and, even with the downdraft in real estate as of late, it's still absurdly, insultingly expensive to live there reasonably. Our daughter is there anshe's piled up in a micro 3 bedroom, 5 story walk-up in Harlem with a bunch of kids and she feels lucky to "only be paying 1200/mo." Crazy.
I actually just saw him on CNBC, haha. Handles himself well. Man, he hates Trump (not more than me, but it's close).
He could be so much better. Again, I like him as a person and , one paper, I agree with his politics. It just seems like nothing happens to make anything better.
If he could move the needle on violence, schools and poverty, he could be epic (understanding fully how "Captain Obvious" this statement is).
From a development standpoint, Philly was a powder-keg ready for the fuse to light. We have amazing housing stock, ALL the immenities of a mature, major east-coast city, a burgeoning Biotech community that will make us the Silicon Valley of Biotech, Great people and, when not crippled by pandemic, the best food scene in the country, IMHO. The development boom was gonna happen, it was just a matter of time.
Our biggest challenge from a development perspective is managing the growth enough to avoid becoming NYC. That place is ridiculous and, even with the downdraft in real estate as of late, it's still absurdly, insultingly expensive to live there reasonably. Our daughter is there anshe's piled up in a micro 3 bedroom, 5 story walk-up in Harlem with a bunch of kids and she feels lucky to "only be paying 1200/mo." Crazy.
We don't need THAT.
Yes, Philadelphia needs a development roadmap. The biggest barrier holding Philadelphia back is not the Mayor but city council. I really wish we could have term limits for city council.
It would really increase innovation and stronger policy initiatives. Right now city council runs their districts as almost mini mayors, which means there is a total lack of vision on ways to solve Philadelphia's challenges that include crime and education and the soon to be housing costs issues. I agree I do not want Philadelphia to get to DC and NYC prices.
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