Philadelphia wants to replicate record drop in shootings

 Mensah M. Dean writing for The Trace:

Last year, Philadelphia’s record-breaking decline in shootings outpaced that of every other large U.S. city. That progress hasn’t slowed down violence prevention groups like Men Who Care of Germantown, Inc., whose volunteers are still making their rounds.

“It hasn’t slowed down for us,” said Executive Director Joe Budd. “We still go to the street corners because the guys are still hanging on the corners. We still go and have conversations with them and bring resources to those guys to get them working and productive.”

Five days a week, volunteers stop by schools. Off campus, they regularly canvass their community, chatting up young people at rec centers and on street corners, Budd said. It’s a long-term approach designed to continue the city’s historic streak of decreasing violent crime. 

“We’re prevention. We’re engaging them where they are, building relationships and bringing resources to prevent them from even thinking about picking up a gun,” said Budd. “I don’t think we can slow down, because you don’t want the numbers to rise.”

Philadelphians, from City Hall to the communities plagued by the most gun violence, concur that even on the heels of a 24.5 percent drop in shootings last year, anti-violence intervention and prevention work must not slow down. Many believe that the drop, which went beyond undoing a COVID-era spike in violence, can be explained by across-the-board collaboration among city government agencies — like the city Police Department and other law enforcement partners — and grassroots community organizations, like Men Who Care of Germantown.

Those on the frontlines of violence reduction interviewed by The Trace said that in addition to continued collaboration, key to driving down shootings this year will be keeping community organizations funded and working on stopping violence before it starts.

Their observations come amid the Trump’s administration’s decision to freeze billions of dollars in grants to local governments and slash more than $800 million in funding to organizations working to combat violence, drug abuse, and other social ills. 

“We definitely need a sustainability plan which means continuous and more funding. The organizations that are doing the work need to be able to sustain these programs,” said Angenique Howard, executive director of Unique Dreams, which runs an evening resource center that attracts an average of 35 to 40 youth a day in the city’s Frankford section. “It’s one thing to have it year-to-year. But we need some sort of concrete contract.”

Fewer shots fired

Mayor Cherelle Parker has ramped up community policing since taking office in January 2024, city officials have noted, which means that more officers are walking beats from the troubled streets of Kensington to east Market Street in the heart of Center City. At the same time, the city spent $25 million last year to fund dozens of grassroots community groups’ crime prevention initiatives.   

Violent crime since then has dropped significantly. Philadelphia ended 2025 with 222 homicides, a 17.5 percent decline compared to 2024 and the fewest since 1966, according to the Philadelphia Police Department. Philly saw 24.5 percent fewer shootings from 2024. There were 13.1 percent fewer shooting victims, 20.24 percent fewer robberies with guns, and 12.85 percent fewer aggravated assaults with guns.

So far, that trend is continuing into 2026. Through January 25, there were fewer homicides than at the same time last year. There were nine homicides, down from 13 at the same time last year. There had been 37 slayings on this date in 2021, the year the city recorded the most killings in its history, the data shows.

While a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts late last year lauded the city’s progress, it also acknowledged that parts of Philadelphia remain persistently violent. An analysis from The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub reached the same conclusion. 

“The greatest number of gun violence victimization occurred in North, West, and Southwest Philadelphia, areas which also have the lowest median household income, lowest quality of life indicators, and highest concentration of vacant land and buildings,” the report from Pew Charitable Trusts said. “So, while homicides are down citywide, men of color and residents in disadvantaged neighborhoods continue to face an outsized risk of violence.” 

Budd said such realities drive his organization to foster relationships with young people. 

“Our motto is, ‘Catch ‘em before the streets catch ‘em,’” he said. “If they’re in our path we can follow them, conceivably, from third grade to college. Once we build those relationships we can change their mindsets about gun violence and about how to deal with any type of issues that come up surrounding violence and conflict resolution. Those are the types of things we try to do to keep them from picking up a gun.”

Mark Wainwright, founder and CEO of It Takes a Village to Feed One Child, said addressing basic human needs — including making sure young people in low-income, high-crime areas have enough to eat — is part of the solution. His nonprofit, which he founded in 2017, is funded by the federal and state government. It Takes a Village provided more than 250,000 meals a month at over 100 community centers last year. He projects that it will provide more than 350,000 meals a month at 150 centers this year. 

“When children have proper nutrition their motor skills are better, their social and development stills are better,” Wainright said. “They are more positive in the community, and holistically, they want to do better.”

Word of the year: Collaboration  

During her State of the City address in late December, Parker seized on the Pew report’s findings that the city had the largest drop in homicides compared to 20 other cities.

“None of this is happening by accident,” Parker told an enthusiastic audience at Temple University. “Yes, we’re laser-focused on our comprehensive public safety strategy. … But it’s coupled with close and daily collaboration between our Philadelphia Police Department, our Office of Public Safety, and our community-based partners.”

Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said in an interview that officers also recognize and appreciate community-driven work toward safety.

“Order maintenance is one of the biggest things that reduces crime. That’s when the community keeps things in order, they make sure things are being done effectively. They make sure that the block is being kept safe,” he said. “Sometimes, we don’t give the community enough credit.”

A five-year strategic plan, which is scheduled to be revealed in several weeks, will provide further guidance on community partnerships, he said. The last time the department had a similar report was in 1986, he added. “We’re at a great place right now, we have the wind at our back, and we’re going to keep pushing.”

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner had a similar theory about the cause of Philly’s progress.

“It’s because of good coaches, it’s because of good clergy, it’s because of good neighbors, it’s because of good mentors, it is because of good community-based organizations, and it is because of people in government who actually invest in human beings,” he said at a recent news conference.

Krasner noted that police are making more arrests, thanks in part to technological advances including cameras, license plate readers, and cellphone geolocation. The falling number of open shooting cases has allowed police detectives to spend more time on fewer cases, resulting in stronger cases, he said.

Budd, whose group has worked with Krasner’s office over the years, said he’s set a goal to spend more time this year helping other violence prevention groups establish themselves.

“If they want to mirror our program, we’re open to showing people how to do what we do,” he said. “There’s about 22 schools in the Northwest, and there’s no way we can service all of those schools.”

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