Homicides on track for 45-year low in Philadelphia

Here's a six month trend of hope in the city of Brotherly Love: Homicides on track for 45-year low in Philadelphia.

 After years or decades of being known as Killadelphia, hopefully the land of 215 can become a city of hope and safety.

Kudos to Mayor Nutter and police commissioner Charles Ramsey. Next up: the Philadelphia School System.

Read on:

 

Homicides in Philadelphia in 2013 are at the lowest midyear total in nearly half a century, police figures show, putting the city in reach of a modern-day low at year's end.

As of Saturday, with two days left in the six-month period, police had recorded 115 homicides, a 38 percent drop from the same period last year.

The half-year figures are a promising sign for a city that in recent years has held the dubious distinction of being the nation's most violent big city.

Mayor Nutter, top police officials, and prosecutors, along with criminal-justice experts, say the decrease in homicides reflects a new emphasis on data-driven policing, a crackdown on gun criminals, and sweeping reforms in the criminal courts.

In particular, police and prosecutors have targeted so-called hot spots - areas identified as the city's wellsprings for crime.

The fall in homicides reflects a general decline in violent crime. Violent robberies and serious assaults are also down sharply this year. The count of shooting victims has fallen 18 percent, from 633 victims in the first six months of last year to 518 so far this year.

Read more at: Philly Crime