District Attorney’s Office Town Hall Meeting

“When I visit town-hall meetings and school assemblies, I often ask the same question: ‘What is the one thing that most people who get arrested in Philadelphia have in common?’ The answer: They did not graduate from high school.” – District Attorney Seth Williams

On Tuesday I went to a town hall meeting organized by our office for the Fairmount community. Hosted by the Great Exodus Baptist Church, the meeting opened up with introductions by the Rev. Sydney Flores, City Councilmen Bill Greenlee and Darrell Clarke, District Attorney Seth Williams, and all the DA’s Office staff in attendance. The focus of the town hall meeting was crime prevention and safety. One of the recurring themes of the evening was finding ways to improve our school system so that Philadelphia’s youth do not get caught up in the criminal justice system. As District Attorney Seth Williams noted Tuesday night and on several previous occasions (including in the article that he wrote for philly.com on the impact of truancy), there is a correlation between truancy and later criminal behavior. By keeping children in school, we can keep them from going to jail, and in the long run save the money that it costs to incarcerate them.

The District Attorney also highlighted the significant improvements in our office. Whereas a few years ago 59% of cases were getting dismissed by judges at the preliminary hearing stage, now only 4% are being dismissed. This is due to a revamping of the Charging Unit. Before, the Charging Unit was where they sent prosecutors who were underachieving or inexperienced. The Charging Unit is now comprised of the most senior level and accomplished district attorneys who skillfully decide which cases to prosecute. The office is also now exercising much more selectivity in the cases that it chooses to prosecute—they are only going forward with cases that they are certain they can prove. The improved statistics of our office are also largely due to the move to zone prosecution. Inspired by cities that were seeing success through zone prosecution, District Attorney Williams changed the way Philadelphia prosecutes crime. The City now prosecutes crimes based on geographic location—or zone prosecution. The different zones now coincide with the geographic territory of police districts; East, Central, Northwest, Northeast, South, Southwest bureaus handle crime in their respective territories. The goal of community-based prosecution is that prosecutors, police officers, and community residents are better able work together to target repeat offenders versus those who might benefit from a diversion program. Through zone prosecution, cases are handled from start to finish by only a few prosecutors who ensure that it is effectively being prosecuted. Because crime patterns are often geographically based, zone prosecution enables our office to more effectively prosecute violent crimes by being more engaged with the communities we seek to protect.

Also instrumental in saving the City money is the Small Amounts of Marijuana (SAM) program. Whereas before the office and City were spending thousands of dollars prosecuting cases involving possession of small amounts marijuana ($10-$15 worth), now many of these cases are getting diverted at the pre-trial level. Non-violent, minor, and first-time offenders are being offered a summary citation instead of being charged with a misdemeanor. In exchange, offenders agree to attend a one-day, three-hour education course about the effect of drugs on individuals and the community. Fiscally this program makes sense and from a social policy standpoint, it is helping to reverse the incarceration problem that is crippling the City.

The savings that the City has experienced because of these new initiatives amounts to approximately $6 million. District Attorney Williams would like to reinvest these savings in similar initiatives, arguing that “justice reinvestment” will help to improve public safety and reduce corrections costs.

Inspired by the Brooklyn DA, District Attorney Williams opened up two Community Action Centers (CACs). These centers are designed to provide resources for residents who seek guidance on how to make themselves and their communities safer. While stronger gun laws need to be passed in Harrisburg, the overall takeaway from the evening was that Philadelphia residents need to be responsible for working with the police department and the District Attorney’s Office to reduce crime and make our communities safer.

While this was the good news of the night, during the question and answer segment of the evening, several community residents highlighted the struggles Philadelphia is facing with drug-related gun violence. Philadelphia leads the nation in gun-related homicides. These crimes have the overall impact of reducing the quality of life in these communities. A teacher, community activist, and ward leader spoke about the detrimental impact these crimes have on the quality of life in their neighborhoods. Two businessmen also spoke about the real economic impact that these crimes have and the difficulty they present in attracting business to the City.

Overall this meeting was a great opportunity for me to better understand the issues facing Philadelphians. While there has been significant progress, much more work needs to be done to make sure that people feel safe in the communities in which they live, work, and play.