On Monday Police Commissioner Richard Ross said
criminal justice reforms in the city could be to blame for a rise in shooting
deaths. Ross did not mention D.A. Larry Krasner by name.
“I am concerned right now nationally and locally we
are so mired in this notion to being politically correct particularly things
about reform. People who otherwise know better, I hear it when I walk the
neighborhoods, things need to change, we need to be far tougher on crime
than people are talking about. It is not the narrative right now, it is not
what is talked about,” Ross said.
Ross went on to say even those arrested don’t fear
the consequences, noting gun arrests are way up but shootings are not less
frequent.
Krasner counters that his office has declined to
prosecute fewer gun cases than his two predecessors did. He says his
predecessor chose not to pursue 3% of gun arrests, but his team decided against
prosecuting 2% of gun arrests.
“We bring pretty much anything. When there are facts
or law that will support bringing charges of illegal possession of a gun we are
there.”
Krasner says his reform approach focuses on
nonviolent offenders, such as those arrested for drug possession, not those
accused of shootings.
“When the case is not serious there are cases we
will decline [to prosecute],” he said. “For example our refusal for bringing
charges for the criminal possession of marijuana, but when it comes to it’s one
of the areas where we really bore down and we are prosecuting more than the
prior administration.”
Krasner says systemic solutions are the way to cut
violence, and they aren’t going to be fast, but he has some new plans on the
horizon.
One possible solution he says is grouping homicide
prosecutions with gun cases, and using more secure courtrooms so victims feel
safer testifying.
He says that depends on the court system and if
there is available space to move to a different room.
Krasner agrees with Theron Pride, senior director of
violence prevention strategies and programs for the Kenney administration who
points to a five year plan to cut the violence in Philadelphia.
“As much as we want to solve this problem tomorrow,
we know it’s going to take time, an investment of resources, and a coordinated
effort and commitment. We are like everyone else in Philadelphia just
dissatisfied and disappointed and reeling from the violence that we see on a
far too consistent basis including this weekend,” Pride said.
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