City officials across the country are always trying to find new ways to curb violent crime. Recently, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter vowed to reduce murders in the city. With 400 murders in each of the last two years—70 percent of them involving African Americans—relations between African Americans and many city officials are strained. However, the mayor has received overwhelming support from African American voters. He hopes his new anticrime plan, which will begin with bringing the police department to full strength and saturating high-crime areas with officers, will receive as much support.
The mayor has plans to institute a curfew, add a "stop and frisk" tactic, and limit the movement of people in some high-crime areas. Implementation of the mayor’s plan will be overseen by new Police Chief Charles Ramsey. Chief Ramsey, the former chief of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, has used some of these tactics before. While the chief in DC, Ramsey instituted a curfew for youths throughout the city.
Mayor Nutter and Chief Ramsey will not be alone in fighting to reduce the number of murders in the city. A group of mothers of slain children, Mothers in Charge, has said that they will support the mayor because "something must be done." In addition to support from Mothers in Charge, the mayor has received support from Philadelphia-born celebrities Will Smith and Bill Cosby, along with music mogul Kenny Gamble. The movement supported by the celebrities, A Call to Action: 10,000 Men: "It’s A New Day" will bring together 10,000 African-American men to become mentors, big brothers, and community watch leaders.
The mayor hopes his aggressive plan and the assistance of the Call to Action and Mothers in Charge groups will reduce the number of murders. Stephanos Bilbas, a law professor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, told the Washington Post that the mayor’s actions feel "a lot bigger than anything Philadelphia has done before."
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