Philadelphia leaders unite to build crime-stopping blueprint for the future
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Officials at the state and local levels are coming to together with the goal of creating a safer Philadelphia.
The Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia crime summit happened Saturday at Saint Joseph's University.
The goal of the summit is not just to identify the problems facing Philadelphia, but also to come up with realistic solutions that directly address crime in the city.
It's especially important after the week we just had, in which a number of businesses were ransacked by large groups of teenagers.
Images of back-to-back nights of widespread looting went viral and put Philadelphia back in a negative national spotlight.
Businesses were hit along Walnut and Chestnut Streets in Center City, as well as in neighborhoods in North and Northeast Philadelphia.
So far, more than 60 arrests have been made related to these looting events, and police are still trying to track down more offenders.
READ MORE: Looting in Philadelphia: How social media is playing a key role
The summit also aims to address gun violence, which has reached record levels in recent years. So far this year, 328 people have been shot and killed. That's actually 19% less than last year, when there were more than 500 homicides for the whole year.
"We don't know what made that happen. Was it good policing? Was it witness protection? Was it people coming forward because they're sick and tired of being sick and tired? We have to measure what's working and bring it to scale," Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. said.
This summit was organized by Councilmember Jones and features a number of prominent leaders including Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, District Attorney Larry Krasner and members of the Philadelphia Police Department.
"We're going to make a concerted effort to come out of this with 100 recommendations. All of them won't be implemented by the next mayor. But all of them should be considered by the next 100th mayor of the City of Philadelphia," Jones said.
Local leaders are hoping to partner with organizations in the private sector to come up with some effective ways to combat crime in the city.
