70% of Philadelphians believe public safety is the most important issue facing the city, poll finds

More than half of Philadelphia residents do not feel safe in their neighborhoods at night, two-thirds have heard gunshots in the last year, and an overwhelming majority see public safety as the biggest issue facing the city.

That’s according to a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, which surveyed 1,541 Philadelphians in January on issues related to crime, policing, and the twin impacts gun violence and COVID-19 have had on residents’ outlook. It was conducted after 2021 saw record numbers of people killed or injured by gunfire.

Among Pew’s starkest findings was that the number of residents who said crime, drugs, and public safety was the No. 1 issue — about 70% — has increased by 30 percentage points compared with August 2020, the last time Pew conducted such a survey. It’s the highest percentage any topic has received since Pew started polling more than a decade ago, said Katie Martin, senior manager of the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia research and policy initiative.

Just 6% of people said the impact of COVID-19 was the most important issue, but many reported they were dramatically affected. About half know someone who died after contracting the coronavirus, two-thirds of renters said they had trouble paying at some point during the pandemic, and a third say they are worse off financially since before the pandemic.

Taken together, the findings show disparities in quality of life based on factors like race, geography, educational attainment, and income. Black and Hispanic residents were more likely to have lost a loved one during the pandemic and were also more likely to report feeling unsafe in their neighborhood.

» READ MORE: Philly’s homicide crisis in 2021 featured more guns, and a decline in arrests and convictions

And while more than half of Black and Hispanic residents said gun violence has had a major effect on quality of life in their neighborhoods, less than 20% of white residents said the same.

Kevin Lessard, a spokesperson for Mayor Jim Kenney, said the administration knows people of color “continue to feel the impacts of violence and economic downturns more acutely and we are actively working to reverse those disparities.”

He pointed to Kenney’s proposed budget, which was unveiled last week and includes an increase in funding for antiviolence initiatives that target community-based organizations and those residents most at risk of being a victim or a perpetrator of gun violence. He also said administration officials recently launched a new violence prevention hotline and are hosting “listening sessions” in neighborhoods most affected by shootings.

Gun violence has long been concentrated in a handful of zip codes that have experienced generations of higher poverty levels and other structural disadvantages, and the Pew survey found that Philadelphians’ perception of their own safety varied widely by neighborhood.

For example, while residents citywide agree gun violence is a major issue that’s getting worse, about 60% of those who live in zip codes with the lowest rates of violent crime say they feel safe in their neighborhoods at night.

That number drops to 24% in zip codes in North and West Philadelphia that experience the highest rates of violent crime. In some of those neighborhoods, nearly 9 in 10 people said they heard gunshots at some point in the last year.

» READ MORE: Gun violence is concentrated in neighborhoods that have long experienced other forms of disadvantage

That tracks with what Anton Moore said he hears and experiences every day. A longtime community activist, Moore runs a nonprofit called Unity in the Community, which provides job training and other services to at-risk children and teenagers. He also frequently attends vigils in remembrance of victims of gun violence and comforts the families of those who have been lost.

“I can’t stress to you enough the severity of what’s taking place,” he said. “People not wanting to come out after a certain time, that’s troubling. People don’t feel safe. And Philadelphia can never be great if people don’t feel safe.”

Moore said nonprofits like his can prevent gun violence in the long term, but he senses that more community members want to see a police presence in targeted areas that have experienced the most shootings.

The Pew survey found a swing in attitudes about policing, showing that 61% of respondents in January said the city needs more police, which is up from 45% in August 2020. Just 8% said the size of the police force should be reduced, down from 14% in 2020.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia police have a new unit to investigate shootings. But can it improve their success rate?

Black and Hispanic respondents were more likely to say the city doesn’t have enough police, while white people were twice as likely as Black people to say the city has too many. And those more likely to say that the city had enough or too many police officers were either younger, had annual income above $100,000, or have a college degree.

The findings come as some in City Hall are considering ways to bolster the Police Department. A handful of City Council leaders last week backed plans to increase the size of the force, which is authorized to have 6,380 officers.

Commissioner Danielle Outlaw has said the police force was at least 10% larger several years ago. The city is struggling to fill hundreds of vacancies amid a nationwide shortage of recruits and a record number of retirements since 2020, and more than 560 officers are off duty on injury claims.

The Pew survey found that while most residents say the city needs more police, the share of Philadelphians who feel confident that police in their community treat Black and white people equally continues to decline from 55% in 2015 to 42% this year.

Martin said attitudes about police varied largely by age. Four in 5 respondents 65 and older said they have respect for police in Philadelphia, while 40% of those under age 30 said they didn’t.