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REPRINTED FROM THENEXTMAYOR.COMJanuary 19, 2007 press release, (submitted via e-mail) |
New Leadership. New Direction. A New Philadelphia.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2007
CONTACT: Melanie Johnson
(215) 545-9700
melanie@nutter2007.com
Philadelphia, January19, 2007-- I am appalled, but not surprised, by the ridiculous comments of Mayor Street on crime reported in two newspapers on Thursday. Mayor Street appears to be completely out of touch with the reality of gun violence on the streets of Strawberry Mansion, Point Breeze, and Kingsessing. I am stating very clearly that there ARE things a Mayor can do TODAY to make all Philadelphians safer. We are NOT trapped in violent conditions completely beyond our control. We CAN have Safety Now.
Philadelphia’s reputation is foundering on the inaction of this Administration in the face of violence. Mayor Street said that “Unless an officer is standing next to the arguing pair, deterrence is not likely.” The Mayor must think that the epidemic of gun violence and homicide is unpreventable and unpoliceable. I refuse to accept that. We can make this city safe. The key to reducing gun violence is to reduce the carrying of guns. The key to reducing the carrying of guns is to increase the perception of getting caught with an illegal one. This is the cornerstone of the stop-and-frisk strategy in Targeted Enforcement Zones as outlined in my “Safety Now” plan.
I find it disgraceful that the Mayor lacks the basic confidence in his Police Department’s ability to act responsibly in a crime emergency. The Mayor seems to think that a more aggressive policing strategy is something to be feared. Putting more cops of the street is not a “knee-jerk reaction” as the Mayor suggests but a pro-active solution to a growing genocide in our city. To me, the police are not the problem here but part of the solution. Ensuring people’s safety is the first order of business for local government. Nothing else matters, nothing, if people are afraid to leave their homes.
But perhaps the most disturbing comments from the Mayor yesterday -- disturbing because they demonstrate such misguided thinking -- came from his attempts to explain away the violence. The Mayor said that “the Iraq war is a contributing factor in the frustrating increase in gun violence” and “that media coverage of crime in recent years has become far more extensive.” In the Mayor’s world, a distant war beyond his control is the reason he must deal with a rising homicide rate. To me, it’s hard to imagine Mayor LaGuardia blaming World War II for murders in New York during the 1940s. Ironically, the Mayor’s second excuse is one that President George W. Bush uses to make excuses for the war in Iraq: distorted media coverage.
In the Mayor’s world, the newspapers and radio and TV should focus less on violence and homicide. In the real world, we cannot pay too much attention to this problem and the media is not the enemy. The gun violence terrorizing the streets of many Philadelphia neighborhoods is the problem. “Safety Now” is the solution.
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PO Box 58550 • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102
Phone: (215) 545-9700 • Facsimile: (215) 545-4088