Philadelphia mayor's race: Democratic candidates talk about gun violence, school safety
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- During the Democratic Mayoral Candidates Forum, CBS News Philadelphia's Ukee Washington asked the six participating candidates about their plans to curb gun violence and keep schools safer.
There have been at least 100 shootings that hurt students in the School District of Philadelphia this school year.
Ukee: "Especially in the Black community, families are heartbroken when it comes to gun violence and safety in general for all. I'm talking about the families of the souls that we have lost, I'm referring to the families of those committing the crimes as their lives and their families' lives are destroyed also.
Three or four nights a week, my colleagues and I report on horrific stories, it hurts and I'm tired. I'm tired of telling them and the community is tired of hearing them. The concern and the fear is very, very real.
For our young people, we want futures, not funerals. If you are elected as the city's 100th mayor, what are your specific plans, your gun violence directives toward eventual solutions on day one? What is your blueprint for change and why do you think your plan will work?"
Ukee then asked the candidates about how they could ensure children arrived at school safely.
Here is how the candidates responded.
Helen Gym
"I'm very clear that the violence in our city is rooted in disinvestment. And if that is the case then the safety of our people have to be rooted in investments," Gym said.
She said on Day one she would establish a state of emergency and involve law enforcement, public health, the school district, SEPTA, and other relevant agencies. Gym says if elected, she will be ensuring that the police department puts more people on the ground.
"I'm not talking about hiring more officers when we have 1,300 vacancies, I want to promote detectives so we can actually solve crimes and reduce caseloads," Gym said.
She said the city also needs better crisis response and continued to say she helped pilot a mobile mental health crisis unit that can help 911 calls about homelessness and addiction get routed to mental health professionals.
Gym also touted plans for faster crime scene cleanups, housing, and health care for victims of violence, and the creation of a funeral fund.
She said investing in jobs and delivering city services to neighborhoods will help stop the violence as well.
Amen Brown
Brown, who was shot as a teenager, said he has a unique response to the gun violence problem in the city.
"Trauma is real, and still having the bullet fragment lying in between my ribs, I deserve a seat at the table to solve this problem," Brown said.
"Getting your clothes cut off while you're in the back of an ambulance so they can try to save your life," Brown said. "Every single day when you guys report a 14-year-old, a 15-year-old, that was me. The mother screaming, please save my baby, that's my family."
He said his plan for curbing violence includes banning ski masks on his first day in office if elected. He wants to follow up on open bench warrants for repeat violent offenders.
"We're living in fear, and we should not live this way," Brown said. "We must do better at supporting victims."
Cherelle Parker
Parker said she wants criminal justice reform and zero tolerance for any law enforcement misuse of authority. She wants 300 officers engaged in "community policing."
"These are officers who are not sitting in cars," Parker said. "They are walking our streets, they are riding bikes in our neighborhood, they know Ms. Johnson and Mr. Brown, they can call them by name, and they can answer their questions directly because they have their numbers."
Parker said she wants those officers spread across the city and does not want the whole department involved.
Other officers should be on gun violence intervention and Operation Pinpoint, which focuses on violence hotspots.
Rebecca Rhynhart
Rhynhart said the next mayor should address short and long-term issues and solutions to gun violence.
"Long term is of course fixing the lack of opportunities, so, the education system and job opportunity," Rhynhart said. "Safety can't wait for that to happen."
Her short-term plan includes coordinating the city response through the city operations center and involving all departments, including the Streets Department to fix lighting for better-lit streets.
Rhynhart also wants to take strategies that she says have worked in other cities, including cognitive behavioral therapy.
"And also, pull the DA and the police commissioner into the room, that's the mayor's job. And say 'we need to get on the same page to tackle illegal guns.'" Rhynhart said.
She said police have doubled the number of arrests for illegal gun carry, but the conviction rate from the DA's office has declined.
Jeff Brown
Brown was asked about children getting between home and school safely. Then he discussed his work hiring people with past convictions at Shop Rite stores he owned.
Brown's Super Stores partnered with Enon Tabernacle Church to help ex-offenders get a second chance through the Uplift Work Solutions Program.
He claimed those hires reduced recidivism, meaning a convicted person's tendency to re-offend.
"The people that we helped, 98% did not reoffend and changed their lives. That's real experience," Brown said. "What you're hearing at the table are ideas that they never did when they had power. That's great to hear them now, why didn't they do it when they were city council people?"
Brown cited endorsements from SEPTA, Philadelphia and Temple police unions.
Allan Domb
Domb said while on council, he organized a public safety cabinet between the U.S. Attorney, FBI, ATF, and District Attorney's office.
If elected, he would start that panel again and have them meet weekly.
