This story was originally published at ProPublica.org. [1]
Licensed under creative commons by-nc-nd/3.0 [2]


Philadelphia Homicides 1960-2020
Author Name, ProPublica
Date: 08, 2021


February 10, 2021

Philadelphia Homicides 1960-2020

Philadelphia Homicides: A 60 Year Review

I’ve been concerned about homicides, shootings and violence since my teenage years in West Philadelphia. A terrible incident involving my best childhood friend made news stories of violence much more real to me as a young Black boy. As I became involved more and more in community service, and later neighborhood and city politics, my focus intensified.

I am particularly committed to ending violence in the Black community, and directly engaged in efforts to stop the daily slaughter of Black men and boys. It is heartbreaking and unacceptable what is happening in Philadelphia and cities across America, the disproportionate daily injury and death of young Black men.

I believe in data, evidence, focus, intentionality and leadership as the combination to successfully reduce violence in our cities. During my time as Mayor, I wanted to see and evaluate trends, episodes and timelines of homicides specifically in Philadelphia over a 40-50 period of time to better understand where the city was before my time as Mayor, and set goals for ourselves in order to be accountable to the public and our public servants. I asked the Police Department for the annual homicide statistics going back as far as they could up to and including my time in office. Since leaving office, I have maintained an updated chart, in order to see the trendlines and timeframes, and see what was going on during any of the Mayoral terms over that now 60 year period.

The chart also lays out information about the use of guns in homicides, because the overwhelming majority of homicides are committed with guns, almost all of which are being illegally used or possessed. Lastly, calculations are made to develop an average yearly rate for each Mayor whether serving 1 or 2 terms, in order to assess the overall level of safety in the city during those timeframes. The annual number of homicides is certainly not the only measure of safety in any city, but it is the most violent type of crime, and often the crime that most citizens care about a great deal.

As citizens, we should not have to live with the daily fear of violent crime spiraling out of control. The current trendlines are not good, with 4 straight years of significantly rising annual homicide numbers. Last year in 2020 saw the 2nd highest number of annual homicides in 60 years, while just 5-8 years ago the city was experiencing the lowest annual homicide totals in nearly 50 years. We do not, should not and can not just accept that so many fellow Philadelphians will die and there is very little that can be done.

The data shows that we have been safer. Using data, presenting evidence of what works, displaying focus, being intentional about goals and demonstrating exceptional public leadership to slow down and end the devasting violence across this city, especially in communities of color, will make Philadelphia safer in which to work, raise our families and enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Please see the chart, and use the data to demand change.

PHILADELPHIA HOMICIDES – TOTAL AND PERCENTAGE BY FIREARMS 1960-2020*

[1] URL: https://mikenutterllc.com/news/news-item/philadelphia-homicides-1960-2020
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