Fairmount community to meet with city officials, demanding action against crime
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – After seeing a spike in crime over the summer, Fairmount residents are coming together on Tuesday night in an effort to make their neighborhood safer. Residents tell CBS3 Fairmount feels less safe today than when they first started the Town Watch in February - so they're bringing it back with the hopes of putting pressure on police and city leaders to crack down on crime.
After the first few meetings, residents told CBS3 they noticed more police officers patrolling the neighborhood. But since then, they feel the police presence has dropped and crime has steadily increased, especially in the summer months.
Reports of car break-ins, carjackings, muggings, and armed robberies of people's homes and businesses are all too common on neighborhood reporting apps like Ring and Nextdoor.
The organizer of the Fairmount Neighborhood Watch tells CBS3 that some residents want to come to Tuesday night's meeting but are too scared to walk around the neighborhood at night.
"I have lived in this neighborhood for close to ten years and I've never felt this way," Melissa Brannon, organizer of Fairmount Neighborhood Watch, said. "I won't walk the dog before it is light out and won't walk the dog after it is dark out. And, you know, that's just going to trickle down and affect all of the businesses and people that come to work aren't going to feel safe here."
Brannon says city council president Darrell Clark is expected to attend Tuesday night's meeting along with members of the Philadelphia Police Department's 9th district.
She says the goal is not to air out personal grievances but rather to get the attention of city leaders and the police department, and find out how the community can better support them in their mission.
Tuesday night's meeting will be held at the City School on North 24th Street from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Brannon tells CBS3 there will be folks willing to walk anyone home from the meeting who does not feel safe walking alone.
