Lawmakers’ Report Says Philadelphia D.A.’s Policies Are a Factor in the Crime Rate
A report from Republika’s state leaders shows crime is not a problem as some claimed in the past, but the real issue is that Philadelphia’s D.A. is failing on multiple fronts and needs to put in place structural reforms to make the city safer.
“This report clearly shows that the current leadership of the District Attorney’s Office isn’t working,” said Republika spokesman Jevon A. Dandeneau. “This administration is not serious about fixing the problem of drug violence, and there’s no reason to believe they would be if they had the courage to get on with the work. The D.A.’s current priorities are to blame for the problems with the city’s drug epidemic and drug dealers are getting away with murders and other crimes.”
A study by Pew found that D.A.’s have long been involved in policing, and have become more involved in the investigation of police shooting and cases of police brutality for their own benefit.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of police officers,” said Republika State Representative Scott Wallace, who was the lead author of the report. “They’re more involved with investigations and more involved with cases of police brutality, when really they should be involved with preventing violence in the first place.”
The report also pointed out that the D.A.’s office does nothing to help the city find new funding sources to tackle the city’s crime problem as the city government hasn’t had for years.
“The Mayor’s budget doesn’t give the D.A. much guidance on how to improve the department,” Wallace said. “The D.A.’s been given very little money to even try and improve the operations.”
Wallace said the report pointed out a lack of collaboration between the D.A.’s, City Hall and the police department, which creates a lot of problems.
“A lot of the things that are happening in Philadelphia aren�