Philly homicides are at a near-record low in 2024, Krasner says

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Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is happy that the year-end murder numbers will show more than a 30% drop in killings in the city. At a year-end meeting with the media, Krasner spoke about a three-year decline in killings and violent crime in general.

“For reasons I think you can already figure out, [homicides are] the best-documented crimes,” Krasner said. “They’re the most reported crimes. They’re, in some ways, the most accurate indicators of crime, but they almost always go exactly the same direction.”

Krasner credited social service and jobs programs for reducing crime, emphasizing that those running the initiatives help build trust in the justice system and deter vigilante actions.

“They are prevention. What they do is to address the suffering, the trauma, the challenges faced by victims of crime and survivors of crime. In a way that is humane. In a way that helps them heal and there is no question that when you heal trauma and you address trauma, the people who are traumatized are less likely to be involved in criminal activity later. It’s just a fact,” Krasner said.

Joanna Otero-Cruz, head of Women Against Abuse, said the groups work with all the stakeholders in a concerted effort to stop violence.

“It’s really talking about the needs and services that victims need to recover and to heal,” she said.

Although the final count is not in yet, Krasner said crime has been on a downward trajectory in the city for the past three years.

“If we look at the publicly available data, which has been given us by the Philadelphia Police Department, we will see that at the height of the pandemic, the number of homicides in Philadelphia, which reached 562 in the year 2021, the absolute height of the pandemic all over the country, the same thing was happening as it happened here.”

Krasner explained the significant reduction.

“Now 562 [homicides in 2021] is now 262 today. That is 300 lives spared in a year.”

The DA credited grassroots organization efforts — some funded by city money and some supported with microgrants from his office through drug forfeiture money. He noted that these efforts have motivated more people to come forward as witnesses in trials, bolstering trust in the system and advancing justice within the community.

“It is work that makes people trust a justice system rather than taking the law into their own hands on the street,” Krasner said.

“It is work that is humane, moral, proper, and it prevents crime. It prevents the next victimization,” he added.

Krasner admitted his concerns about funding for social service groups next year, hinting at uncertainty tied to a leadership shift in Washington, D.C.

Krasner assured he would personally seek alternate funding sources, either in his budget or from other sources, such as state and city coffers, if federal funding dries up.