City Officials Clueless About How To Stem Rising Gun Violence

AP/Matt Rourke

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

On Easter in Philadelphia, the churches were closed, but out on the streets, people were busy shooting and stabbing each other.

Over the weekend, police recorded eight incidents where a total of 13 victims were either shot or stabbed, with four of those victims winding up as murder victims.

The city's homicide rate now stands at 104. Meanwhile, the city's leaders appear to be clueless concerning what, if anything, to do about it.

At the mayor's daily invitation-only virtual press conference about the coronavirus, Brian Abernathy, the city's empty suit of a managing director, told reporters today that "Violence is not new in the city of Philadelphia, unfortunately."

When asked what concrete steps city officials were taking to stem the violence, Abernathy, never at a loss for platitudes, mumbled something about how "We're working very closely" with the police department, presumably to get a fresh update on the body count.

That's when Mayor Jim Kenney chimed in with the revelation that there's a "lot of poverty" in Philadelphia, as well as "too many guns in our society."

"This is a struggle," he said about combatting violence in the city, a struggle that existed before the coronavirus hit.

"We're continuing to do our best with it," Kenney said.

Whatever that means. Thank you, Mayor Kenney.

So far, Kenney's only concrete proposal about how to stem the wave of gun violence in the city has been the novel suggestion that the district attorney of Philadelphia might actually start prosecuting people that the cops arrest for carrying illegal guns.

Here in our proud Sanctuary City, this is what passes for leadership, as well as innovation in crime fighting.

Meanwhile, the police commissioner wasn't at the press conference, but several times when she's been questioned about what to do about gun violence in the past, by cops and reporters, her response has been the same.

It's a problem that existed long before I got here, she says, and it's a problem that will still be here long after I'm gone.

She may have already issued a firm new policy directive about whether female cops can wear colored nail polish -- yes they can! But on the issue of how to stop the citizens from stabbing and shooting each other, well, according to our new police commissioner, the problems behind the violence are systemic, like poverty and a lack of education, and hey, what can you do about any of that?

Apparently, when Mayor Kenney was conducting that extensive nationwide search for a new police commissioner, somehow the question of how to stem the city's gun violence never came up.

Instead, they probably talked about important issues like nail polish, clear or colored?

So, over the weekend, while city officials like Kenney and Abernathy were taking a well-deserved breather from those exhausting press conferences that they hold every day, to serve up fresh pablum, city police recorded the following incidents:

-- A black male in the 2000 block of North 30th St. was shot multiple times throughout the body. He was taken by medics to Temple University Hospital where he was listed in critical condition. A second black male shot in the right leg was also taken to Temple, where he was reported in stable condition.

--A 47 year-old black female was found inside 3850 Wyalusing Avenue stabbed multiple times in the head. She was transported to Presbyterian Hospital where she died.

-- A 44-year-old black male at 4708 W. Girard Avenue was shot once in the leg. He was taken to Presbyterian Hospital where he was reported in stable condition.

-- A triple shooting was reported at 3621 Kensington Avenue. A 58 year-old black male shot multiple times in the body was transported to Temple University Hospital where he was reported in critical condition. A 52 year-old white male was shot one time in the back and was transported to Temple in critical condition. A third black male was shot multiple times throughout the body and pronounced dead at the scene.

-- A 46 year-old black male at 23rd and Dickinson was shot multiple times in the head and torso, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

-- A 22 year-old black male at 200 Chelten Avenue was shot at least one time in the back of the head. He was transported to Einstein Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. A second victim, a 23 year-old black male, was shot twice in the left arm. He was also transported to Einstein where he was reported in stable condition.

-- A 32 year-old black male at Fifth St. and Pike Street was stabbed twice in the upper right chest area and was transported to Temple Hospital. A 33 year-old Hispanic male was stabbed four times in the head and transported to Temple. Both were reported to be in stable condition.

-- A 31 year-old black male in the 6300 block of Lancaster Avenue was shot in the right knee. He was taken to Lankenau Hospital where he was reported in stable condition.

And since today is Monday, the day the cops issue a fresh batch of crime statistics every week, let's check out the latest numbers.

According to the police, the following crimes are on the rise:

-- Homicides are up 10.6 percent, from 94 this time last  year to 104 this year.

-- Gunpoint robberies are up 12.7 percent, from 518 this time last year to 584 this year.

-- Aggravated assaults by handgun are up 23.5 percent, from 614 this time last year to 758 this year.

-- Commercial burglaries are up 21.6 percent, from 319 this time last year to 388 this year.

-- Theft of motor vehicle tags are up 18.8 percent, from 398 this time last year to 473 this year.

-- Retail theft is up 44.6 percent, from 2,102 this time last year to 3,039 this year.

-- Auto thefts are up 21.5 percent, from 1,680 at this time last year to 2,041 this year.

-- Shooting incidents where nobody was hit but shots were fired are up 70.7 percent, from 416 at this time last year to 710 this year.

-- The number of people shot by guns is up 15.8 percent, from 342 at this time last year to 396 this year.

So the crime rate is surging, and the mayor, the managing director and the police commissioner don't have a clue when it comes to figuring out what to do about it.

Meanwhile, our District Attorney, Larry Krasner, the Great Emancipator, is pressing ahead with his sweeping vision of emptying the city's jails.

You have to give the D.A. credit. He may be a lunatic Progressive ideologue who's endangering all of our lives by letting hundreds of criminals out of jail. But apparently, he's the only city official who actually has a plan.