Mar. 18 through Mar. 25 was a relatively average week in terms of gun violence for the City of Brotherly Love: During those seven days, at least four people were killed in shootings, and at least 11 others were wounded.
Philadelphia has been plagued by this type of gun violence for years. Last year, homicide totals reached 380, making 2005 the city's deadliest year since 1997.
The primary strategy being taken by Mayor John Street and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson to fight the rising levels of violence is a program known as Operation Safer Streets.
This program, which was officially unveiled on Feb. 4, consists of a four-pronged effort to reduce gun violence. In terms of police policy, the program orders an increase of directed police patrols in five specific neighborhoods around the city that have been designated as "hot spots."
Operation Safer Streets is an extension of Operation Safe Streets, a similar program that was introduced in 2002. The police department's goal in instituting the program was to regain control of the streets by ending illegal activities, such as drug dealing, on street corners.
Deputy Police Commissioner of Internal Affairs and Gun Control Strategies Richard Ross Jr. said that the original idea of flooding "priority corners" with officers was taken from the Boston Police Department
As of Mar. 24, Ross said, the city had endured 13 fewer homicides this year than it had between Jan. 1 and Mar. 24 last year.
He was reluctant to attribute this decline to Operation Safer Streets, however, saying that homicide patterns are often inconsistent.
"You just don't know what's going to happen with homicides," he said.
But Ross said that Operation Safer Streets has led to a significant increase in arrests.
He also said that Philadelphia has "650 fewer police officers now than we did in 2003." Earlier this year, Street pledged $10 million for police overtime, but according to Ross, as of Mar. 24, "we haven't been given a green light to hire more police officers."
Ross also said that many district officers "are doing civilian jobs" rather than patrolling.
More than 90 percent "of the officers in these [Safer Street] operations come from the Highway Patrol and Narcotics Strike Force [units]," Ross said.
This distribution of officers is designed to prevent the depletion of patrol officers from other districts. The Highway Patrol and Narcotic Strike Force officers have been integrated into the district offices and do not work independently.
But they perform the same function - searching for guns, drugs and suspicious characters - that they did before they were relocated by Operation Safer Streets.
During his patrols, Community Relations Police Officer Curtis Ghee of the 22nd district, one of the districts targeted in Operation Safer Streets, often runs into civilians he knows and with whom he is friendly. He said that he works closely with civilian groups including the Strawberry Mansion Neighborhood Action Council, which encourages community members to report crimes they witness, even if they want to do so anonymously.
According to Ghee, the officers brought in specifically for Safer Streets will not work on building police-community relations in a similar way.
"They're not down here to know [residents]," he said. "They're down here to deter crime," and they will stay "as long as that area needs it."
Currently, 15 officers patrol the 22nd district at any given time.
"It shouldn't take ... so many to man this district," Ghee said, but he added that "we could always [use] more."
Youth Violence Reduction Partnership Parole Officer Steve Christian said that the increased patrols of Operation Safer Streets have assisted him in tracking his parolees in the targeted districts.
His parolees are often involved in drug deals or organized gambling. Because of increased police patrols, these illegal businesses cannot successfully operate outdoors. Christian's parolees told him that criminals have been forced to operate inside houses and barbershops.
"They changed the way they do business," Christian said. "It makes it easier for us to do what we do."
CORRECTION: MAR. 31, 2006In one of yesterday's Philadelphia Exposed articles ("'Safer Streets' tries to live up to its name," Mar. 30, 2006), the quote "[officers will stay] as long as that area needs it" was misattributed to Officer Curtis Ghee. The quote should have been attributed to Deputy Police Commissioner of Internal Affairs and Gun Control Strategies Richard Ross Jr.
