“We need to build a city of opportunity where every Philadelphian can get an education, get a job, and build a better life for themselves and their family. Philadelphia is an incredible city, and businesses will want to be here if we make it easier for them to grow”

Keep Our City Safe & Foster Mutual Respect: Safety Policy Guide 2015

“As a former Judge, I understand how important it is to make our city even safer. As a victim of racial profiling and a longtime advocate for better police-community relations, I know that we need to turn the page on Stop and Frisk. Safety and respect can and should go hand in hand.” – Nelson Diaz

Keep Our City Safe & Foster Mutual Respect

Philadelphia has made great progress on reducing the crime rate, but we still have a long way to go. The murder rate has declined by more than 50% from its peak, but it still stands at nearly 16 murders per 100,000 people – higher than in Washington DC or Houston, twice as high as in Boston or Los Angeles, and four times as high as in New York City. Too many residents don’t feel safe, and too many of our citizens are the victims of crime. We need to bring crime down even further if we want to achieve our full potential and provide our residents the kind of lives they deserve.

At the same time, far too many citizens feel like they’re under siege by the police, while police officers’ morale suffers from an unnecessarily adversarial relationship with some communities. There needs to be mutual respect between the brave men and women of law enforcement and the communities they protect and serve. The Stop and Frisk era has made that a challenge, but it’s one we can address if we’re engaging law enforcement as true partners in the community.

MURDER RATE PER 100,000 PEOPLE

The Supreme Court has made it crystal clear that racial profiling, indiscriminately stopping black and brown men walking down the street who aren’t doing anything wrong, is unconstitutional. The police are supposed to have “reasonable suspicion” before stopping and questioning anyone, but that standard appears not to be met in an unacceptably high percentage of pedestrian stops in the city. I’ll change current policy, and make sure that the stops that do occur are constitutional.

What’s more, “Stop and Frisk” is ineffective as a policing strategy. It doesn’t target criminals but instead targets every day, law-abiding citizens regardless of whether they’ve done anything wrong. It breeds resentment in the community, and it makes it impossible for the police to be seen as a true partner by many residents. I grew up in poverty in a dangerous neighborhood in New York City, and I understand first-hand what it’s like to be scared simply walking down the street, and to feel like the police were not my friends but a threat. Residents need to be safe, but they also need to feel safe. By turning the police into a constant source of tension, “Stop and Frisk” makes the second of those goals near impossible.

My plan to reduce crime is based on a simple equation: If residents know and trust the police, and if the police act respectfully and collaboratively with the community, we’ll prevent crimes from occurring and solve more of the ones that do happen. Police officers should be a friendly, familiar face on the beat in every neighborhood. That way they’ll have a better understanding of who is and isn’t a threat, they’ll create real relationships with the community, and they’ll be able to do a better job protecting our communities.

As part of community policing, we should consider restoring or expanding opportunities for the police to partner with community members – through communities programs such as Police Athletic Leagues – as well as creating smaller sub-stations embedded directly into the fabric of neighborhoods. Together, this will fundamentally change the relationship between the police and many neighborhoods where tensions run high, and in the process make our communities safer – and feel safer.

FOLLOW THECONSTITUTION

INSTITUTE COMMUNITY POLICING

FIGHT GUN VIOLENCEThere are too many guns on the streets of Philadelphia. What Harrisburg doesn’t get is that guns here aren’t used to hunt – they’re being used to shoot our children. The commonwealth passed a terrible bill to help the NRA sue cities and towns who have laws that try to end our epidemic of gun violence, but we don’t have to stand by and watch as our streets get less safe. I’ll vigorously oppose that absurd and likely unconstitutional bill through any legal channels I can, and I’ll do everything I can to reduce the number of guns in Philadelphia.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY & PROVIDE BODY CAMERASWhen we demand the best from our police officers, and empower them to get results, they almost always deliver. When that doesn’t happen, though, we need to know why and fix the problem. Far too many Philadelphians feel that there aren’t real consequences for police misconduct, undermining trust in the system and respect for officers. That is why I would bring back a police advisory board that has subpoena power and could recommend disciplinary action, while maintaining the chain of command. I believe that this allows us to find the appropriate middle ground between supporting the hard working men and women who protect our city, the vast majority of whom perform their duties honorably and admirably, and protecting communities from the small percentage of bad actors responsible for most misconduct.

At the same time, we should be providing police officers with body cameras to capture important interactions with the public on video. Experience has consistently shown that body cameras are a boon for both police officers and members of the community. There is less use of force by police, fewer complaints by the community, and a clear visual record of any disputed encounters.

ALTERNATIVES TO INCARCERATION & REENTRY ASSISTANCEMany non-violent, low-level offenders probably don’t belong in jail. Justice demands that the punishment should always fit the crime, which is why we need to aggressively explore alternatives to incarceration for some offenders and invest in diversion programs for at-risk youth. As a young man, I took advantage of community

support to turn my own life around; we need to make sure all our children have that same opportunity. By safely reducing the prison population, we can close outdated, overcrowded, and dangerous correctional facilities that are far too old to safely operate.

Returning citizens who have served their sentences also need to be reintegrated into society, because we can either pay a little now to help lower recidivism or pay a lot later when people we have abandoned re-offend. We need to be providing returning citizens with support services so they can get an education, get a job, and stay out of trouble. This is especially true of mental health support services, which many need but can’t get. We shouldn’t criminalize psychiatric problems – we should treat them and we should support those who have them.

I am also committed to continuing the progress the city has made in the area of public safety and all hazards emergency response. The city headed the lessons of Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy and has been implementing a public safety plan that was informed by a report issued under the Street administration. I also support the city’s firefighters and will work with them to ensure they receive the resources they need.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE