Philadelphia – According to a report by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia recently recorded its 500th homicide in 2022, which makes it the second year in a row with 500 killings.
The last time Philadelphia hit the 500 homicide mark was in 1990, when the crack cocaine epidemic was at its peak. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that 84% of individuals killed or injured in shootings in 2022 were black despite only making up 40% of the city’s population according to the United States Census.
Several factors are being cited for the alarming rise in violence including the political attacks on law enforcement along with criminal justice reforms implemented under District Attorney Larry Krasner’s watch.
Travis Yates, author of “The Courageous Police Leader” and national trainer, tells us that the story in Philadelphia and other cities is one that must be told.
Yates said that the irony of the police reform movement is they have used the idea that minorities will be helped if implemented and the exact opposite has been true.
“I’m sure some of these advocates believed it and while their efforts may have had good intentions, our country and its leaders have recklessly experimented with the lives of Americans and that is a tragic story that must be told,” Yates said.
Yates continued that “it’s certainly odd that law enforcement has been bombarded with the idea that policing is ‘disproportionate’ all along while the disparity in the victims of crime are being ignored.”
Indeed, law enforcement is about stopping and reducing crime. Currently, approximately half of all victims of murder are black while they make up just 12% of the population.
Meanwhile, rather than focusing on that horrific disparity, leaders continue to blame police for simply responding and reacting to that crime.
