Federal and city officials pledge better collaboration to combat gun violence

Saying they share the goal of preventing and reducing gun violence in a city that is experiencing record numbers of killings and shootings, federal and Philadelphia officials met behind closed doors Wednesday and emerged vowing to work more collaboratively with a goal of making the city safer.

Ala Stanford, regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, invited Mayor Jim Kenney, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, District Attorney Larry Krasner, officials from the city Fire Department, School District of Philadelphia, and Temple University, and community members to the first-of-its kind meeting.

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Quarterly meetings are planned going forward, said the officials, who pledged to work together and share resources and intelligence as their respective agencies grapple with the effects of gun violence.

“Sometimes, people feel that more money is the solution to all things, but really it’s a collaboration with a common goal, with resources, with accountability,” said Stanford, a Montgomery County physician who founded the nationally acclaimed Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium and who was appointed to her current post by President Joe Biden in April.

“We love the city. There is promise and beauty in Philadelphia that is not always portrayed,” she said. “Our children need to see more hope, they need to see more collaboration of us working together and know that we are all working toward a better future for them.”

Outlaw said she believed the new team effort was promising.

“I’ve sat at the table many instances, traveled to D.C. as it relates to meeting with our federal law enforcement partners, but this is different to me in that I had not been invited to the table at the federal level when we’re talking about addressing gun violence as a public health crisis,” Outlaw said.

Said Kenney: “We’re doing a lot but it’s not enough. Hopefully with the federal government’s direct involvement through HHS, we can make some more strides.”

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The mayor conceded, however, that the federal-state collaboration isn’t likely to reduce the number of illegal guns, which are responsible for most of the shootings.

“The magic wand that I would have is to get rid of every goddamn gun in this country. I would do that in a second. But that’s not a magic wand that’s doable,” he said. “So, refining and talking and communicating and trying to put our resources in the best way possible to address these problems is what we’re doing.”

Specifically how federal and local officials will work together will be decided at future meetings, he said.

Gun violence in the city began surging at the beginning of the pandemic shutdown in 2020, a year that ended with 499 homicides, one short of the then-record of 500 set in 1990. Last year, that record was shattered when 562 people were slain. As of Wednesday morning, there had been 337 homicides in the city, up nearly 4% from the same time last year, when there were 325 slayings.

Kenney’s $5.8 billion budget, adopted by City Council in June, includes a $30 million increase for the Police Department, boosting its total budget to $800 million, along with $4 million to install security cameras in neighborhoods most affected by gun violence, and $500,000 for the city’s new Office of the Victim Advocate.

In addition, $184 million is earmarked for antiviolence initiatives contained in the Roadmap for Safer Communities, the city’s violence prevention plan, an 18.5% increase from last year’s budget.

“We’ll continue to spend what we have to spend in order to try to get this problem under control,” Kenney said.