Keynote speaker Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams spoke about the changes he has made since taking office two years ago and his vision for an effective District Attorney’s office. One of his goals has been to implement community-wide partnerships to address the challenges facing Philadelphia. In addition, at the core of his strategy on crime prevention is the belief that it is the certainty, and not the severity of punishment, that deters crime and reduces recidivism. With this in mind, he has implemented several community-based diversion programs targeted towards low-risk and non-violent offenders. This allows his office to commit its resources and efforts on pursuing the most violent criminals.
The panel component of the evening provided an opportunity for leaders in the criminal justice community to discuss the cycle of violence in Philadelphia and its impact. Touching on topics like poverty, failing schools, and broken communities, the panel addressed the efforts of the criminal justice community to change the trajectory of Philadelphia’s most disadvantaged citizens. Deputy District Attorney Laurie Malone, Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Chief of Staff for Mayor Nutter Everett Gillison, Assistant Chief of Appeals Larry Goode, and Executive Director of Center City Crime Victim Services Sherry Hunter all shared their experiences working in a system that is struggling to deal with high crime rates and limited resources.
The overall takeaway from the evening was that in many places, Philadelphia’s communities are broken and in order to tackle the many public safety challenges they face, its citizens need to become more accountable to each other.
No comments:
Post a Comment