Behind the reduction of gang violence in South Philadelphia

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GUESTS: CAROLINE KEATING MCGLYNN, OFFICER JAMES O’NEILL & REUBEN JONES

Through the coordinated efforts of law enforcement, the District Attorney’s office, and community and social services there has been a significant decrease in South Philadelphia gang violence in 2013. Philadelphia, like many cities, is basing their crime-reducing strategy on criminologist David Kennedy’s “Operation Ceasefire” work in Boston in the 1990s. This “Focused Deterrence,” the selected targeting of violent, neighborhood ‘hot spots’ with zero-tolerance to crime, has cut homicides by half in just six months. We’ll discuss this collaboration with CAROLINE KEATING MCGLYNN, Chief at the South Bureau at the DA’s office; Philadelphia police officer JAMES O’NEILL; and REUBEN JONES, a Knight award-winning ex-offender and poet, who now works with at-risk youth.

Check out WHYY reporter Lizz Fiedler’s story series on South Philly gangs: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local//item/61609-gangs-fiedler-nov-2013-package/

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