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Weekly Brief on Gun Violence Prevention in Philadelphia

Weekly Brief on Gun Violence Prevention in Philadelphia
Each Wednesday morning we share news, research, data, opinions and community responses related to gun violence and prevention in Philadelphia.

Above: Philadelphia shooting victim hotspot map this year-to-date through March 7. [Philadelphia Office of the Controller]
Above: Philadelphia shooting victim hotspot map this year-to-date through March 7. [Philadelphia Office of the Controller]
Unfolding
• Philadelphia Police commissioner Danielle Outlaw intends to fire the police officer who shot and killed a 12-year-old last week. An attorney for the child’s father voiced “a very strong suspicion that this child was shot at close range in the back.” [WHYY/CBS3]
The long, fraught history of police — both here and elsewhere — sometimes being less than truthful, particularly when officers shoot a civilian, means that any benefit of the doubt that might have been extended in this case is virtually nonexistent. - Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board
Safety training
• A community organization developed to slow gun violence is teaching kids how to disarm weapons and stay safe during shootings. [Billy Penn/Urban Navigation]
Frustrations
• Recipients of city gun violence prevention grants say significant delays have forced them to use their own money or lean on private donors to keep their programs afloat. [WHYY]
Community voices
• Neighbors came out for a rally in West Oak Lane hours after three young men were killed in a shooting Saturday night. [CBS3]
By the numbers
Philadelphia monthly shooting victim totals: data.phila.gov
Philadelphia monthly shooting victim totals: data.phila.gov
152: People shot in Philadelphia during February, down from 189 recorded one month earlier.
81: The city’s average shooting victim total for the month of February from 2015 through 2020.
[data.phila.gov via @pcgvr]
31.5: Philadelphia homicide rate per 100,000 residents; the highest recorded in the 10 largest U.S. cities during 2021. 
[Vital City]
19: Shooting victims recorded during the seven-day period ending Sunday, according to Monday’s Philadelphia Police citywide major crimes report.
[Philadelphia Police via Google Drive]
26: Shooting victims recorded during the same seven-day period, according to Philadelphia Police data updated online later Monday.
[data.phila.gov]
98: Year-to-date homicides in Philadelphia through Monday night, representing a 10 percent increase vs. the same period last year.
[PhillyPolice.com]
70: Percent of Pennsylvania voters opposed to eliminating the state licensing requirement to carry a concealed weapon.
[Franklin & Marshall College poll via witf.org]
80,693: Estimated guns sold in Pennsylvania during January, up six percent vs. the previous month but down six percent vs. February, 2021.
[The Trace]
12,600,000: Years of life lost to firearms in the US from 2009 through 2018. 
[Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open via The Washington Post]
136,000,000: Dollars paid in Philadelphia (2010-2020) following accusations of police misconduct.
[The Washington Post]
Shootings near Temple
• Three more shootings were reported near the main campus at Temple University during the past week. The mother of one student has hired a private security firm. [Temple University via Twitter/The Philadelphia Inquirer]
Colloquium
• Register now and attend online tomorrow: Neighborhood Improvement and Crime Reduction through Housing Intervention [Temple Public Policy Lab]
Carjacking cases
• Charges follow most carjacking arrests, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Transparency Analytics Lab. [The Justice Journal]
Every other Wednesday
• The Soundboard Against Violence Open Mic Series is offering prizes up to $500 for music that doesn’t celebrate gun violence. [PQ Radio 1]
Updating the Roadmap
• The city announced community listening sessions to inform this year’s update to the Philadelphia Roadmap to Safer Communities. The first meeting took place Monday night. [WHYY/Phila.gov via Mailchimp/NBC10]
Rectified
• The new editor at Philadelphia Weekly addressed last year’s murder tally guessing contest, calling it something “insensitive people who actually hate Philadelphia would love to read.” [philadelphiaweekly.com]
More updates
• The Temple University team who found links between increased shooting rates and levels of drug market and police activity discussed their recent research on TV last weekend. [6ABC]
• The District Attorney’s Youth Aid Panel Juvenile Diversion Program has been keeping young people out of jail since 1987. [The Philadelphia Tribune]
• Victims who are left to navigate life-changing injuries, emotional trauma and steep financial burdens are mostly on their own. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
• The city announced new grants through the Kensington Community Resilience Fund, including one helping those who lose loved ones to gun violence, incarceration or addiction. [Phila.gov via Mailchimp]
Forging peace
• Register now and attend Saturday to learn how to decommission unwanted firearms and make them into garden tools and art through blacksmithing, welding and woodworking. [rawtools.org] 
In memoriam
Ramonita Jusino, 19:
Ramonita Jusino, 19:
“She had all of these plans. She knew what she wanted, and her smile was contagious. She had a big heart.”
www.phillyobitproject.com  •  Share
Solutions of the Week
• Cash transfer programs and robust welfare systems are extremely effective policies for reducing homicide, assault, property crime, overdose deaths and intimate partner violence. [Slate]
• Roughly 60 percent of students said they wanted more opportunities to discuss violence with their peers at school and/or their families after reading the same novel. [arts.gov]
• The Firearm Life Plan is a free, anonymous website empowering users to make voluntary, private decisions about what to do with their firearms as they age. [University of Colorado] 
Join the conversation
• The Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting is partnering with the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, Firelight Media and filmmaker Terrance Pitts to present a free, virtual event.
Our Director of Research Dr. Jessica Beard will join a panel of local experts from the media and community. Collaborating partners include Mothers in Charge, Philly Truce and the Young Chances Foundation. Human Impact Solutions and Humanature are the production partners.
Our Director of Research Dr. Jessica Beard will join a panel of local experts from the media and community. Collaborating partners include Mothers in Charge, Philly Truce and the Young Chances Foundation. Human Impact Solutions and Humanature are the production partners.
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The Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting

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