Young people make up most of Philly’s gun victims. DA Larry Krasner is inviting them to talk.
With violence surging in Philadelphia, victims under 18 account for 10 percent of all those shot.
Saying it is important to hear directly from those impacted by gun violence, District Attorney Larry Krasner on Monday announced that his office is partnering with community groups to hold three roundtable discussions for people between the ages of 15 and 25.
“We hope that we’ll hear some things that stick, that make sense, and we intend to try to either push them within our organization or outside of our organization,” Krasner said at news conference at his Center City office.
Krasner said the idea for the roundtables came from community town-hall meetings he held in June and July, during which the mostly middle-aged participants voiced concern that few young people were present. For the three forums, the community groups hope to bring as many as 30 young people to each.
The gun-violence discussions, which will also delve into the broader issue of criminal justice reform, are scheduled for Aug. 12, 18, and 25, Krasner said. The meetings come at a time when young people are falling victim to the city’s surging gun violence at higher rates than any other age group.
As of Sunday, 133 people younger than 18 had been shot in Philadelphia this year, which accounts for about 10% of gunshot victims, while 743 people between the ages of 18 to 30 had been shot, or 53% of victims, according to city data.
The first discussion will be Thursday at the NOMO Foundation, 925 N. Broad St., from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The Aug. 18 forum will be at Rock Ministries, 2755 Kensington Ave., from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The Aug. 25 roundtable will be at Masjidullah, 7401 Limekiln Pike, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Felicia Pendleton, NOMO Foundation operations manager, described herself at Krasner’s news conference as a co-victim of gun violence since the 2016 murder of her son Jayvon Mitchell-Pendleton, 20.
“I wish these roundtables and a lot of things that are going on in the community now were available to the young person that was 15 at the time that [he] murdered my son,” she said. “I think this would have helped out a whole, whole lot. It probably could have saved some lives if these things were available. ... Nevertheless, it’s never too late to start something. So we’re going to figure it out.”
Buddy Osborn, senior pastor of Rock Ministries, said he was hopeful about the effort.
“The greatest thing we can do in our city is prevention. And when you want to know about prevention, you listen to kids,” he said.
“There’s a lot of knowledge in these kids that run the streets,” he continued. “So, for the district attorney to step up to the plate and want to hear from the kids and listen — not only hear from them but listen ... to prevent tragedy and gun violence, Rock Ministries is 1,000% in.”