Philadelphia gun violence and prevention report: June 23, 2021

Now Live: Up the Block is an effort to connect people in Philadelphia with resources for coping with trauma resulting from gun violence. Visit: uptheblock.org | For more info: Visit The Trace

City spending

• Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced last week that the city will dedicate more than $150 million to reduce violence. Philly anti-violence activists are hopeful. [Mayor’s Office via MailChimp/WHYY]

• We hope to learn more during today’s “Virtual Update” on the city’s response to gun violence, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. You can listen live on 900 AM / 96.1 WURD Radio or watch online. [Facebook]

Opinion

• “Spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars with no evidence of effective service delivery is reckless, and potentially harmful to our high-crime neighborhoods that need the most help.” [The Philadelphia Inquirer]

State response

• Eligible applicants can receive up to $225,000 to implement programs to intervene, deescalate and reduce shootings in Pennsylvania communities. [Pocono Record]

• State Rep. Joanna McClinton says that reducing gun violence calls for the same collaboration and persistence that brought us the COVID vaccine. [PennLive.com]

Frontline kids

• Medical professionals are teaching first aid for gunshot victims to children in Philadelphia. [6ABC]

Community-informed

• Kim Kamara reminds us that some families are learning to live without fathers who have been killed and that fathers who lost sons to gun violence are suffering too. [Philadelphia Obituary Project]

• You are invited to come out , show your support and hear from organizers and politicians leading a rally against gun violence Friday at FDR Park. The Lower Merion Gun Violence Awareness Day we mentioned last week is scheduled for Sunday. [@JAMAL_SKU/Heeding God’s Call via MailChimp]

In the spotlight

• We are grateful to the team at The Trace for reporting on our Credible Messenger Reporting Project last weekend in the Spotlight on Solutions section of their Weekly Briefing newsletter. Now, you can get to know the team we featured in last week’s report. [The Trace/PCGVR]

Data-informed

• The data catalog on our site that was made available by the Expert Panel on Firearms Data Infrastructure. Links on the page also lead to the study home page and an appendix with descriptions addressing firearms-related variables, limitations, currency and related characteristics. [PCGVR]

Imagine

• CNN appears to be covering everyday gun violence like it would a mass shooting, airing several segments on the same day. [@JenniferMascia]

Trauma-informed

• The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma launched a new initiative establishing an international community of qualified therapists trained to care for trauma-impacted journalists. [Journalist Trauma Support Network]

By the numbers

• Monday’s weekly major crimes report from the Philadelphia Police indicated that 35 people had been shot in the city during the previous seven days but will apparently need an update next week. Open city data now show 60 people shot during the same seven-day period, including several multiple-victim incidents over the weekend. [Philadelphia Police via Google Drive/data.phila.gov/6ABC]

• More than one thousand people have now been shot this year in Philadelphia, including nearly 100 victims under age 18. [KYW Newsradio]

• Police reported 260 total homicides year-to-date in Philadelphia as of late Monday night. They also released the names of 46 people killed last month. [PhillyPolice.com/Philadelphia Obituary Project]

• 28.6: That’s the average age of nearly 10,000 people shot in Philadelphia since January 1, 2015; now visible on our dashboard thanks to crime data analyst Jeff Asher. [@PCGVR/PCGVR]

Solution of the Week

• A violence interrupter program in the Bronx is based in a hospital: “That allows outreach by the credible messengers to begin at a critical moment—when a gunshot victim is admitted to the emergency room and the clock begins on a potential retaliation.” [Gothamist]

More info on our home page

• We have updated our web site to make much more of our work more accessible on the home page now. [PCGVR]