Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel reflects on his first year in office, highlighting the city's progress in reducing violent crime and emphasizing the need for continued efforts to address challenges.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel will soon have one official year under his belt as top cop.Looking back on his first year in the new role, he says he hopes to build on the progress the city is seeing when it comes to violent crime . In 2024, total homicides are on pace to be the lowest since 2015.He says the department still has a number of 's' cases that could be classified as a homicide, but anticipates that number to be under ten.
'We know by looking at that data, if we focus in those core areas and those core districts that have a significant level of violence, we can have an impact, we know that,' he said.The Commissioner points to partnering with other city leaders, technology and clearance rates—roughly 73 percent for homicides and 37 percent for shootings—combined with the city recovering from pandemic closures.'The system has finally got its feet back under them, fully engaged,' he said. 'One good year is not going to change folks’ vision of the city, so it’s going to take a lot more than that.'FOX 29's Kelly Rule mentioned the shooting at Dilworth Park just over a week ago, a popular spot for tourists during the holidays.'Something like that happens and people immediately say, 'See I told you, the city’s not safe, we’re not coming back.' How do you deal with that?' Rule asks.'Our job is to continue to sell the city and have hope. I think what has happened historically is we have those and we kind of let them sit,' said Commissioner Bethel. 'I think the more we create a forward posture, the more we say, 'Hey you do that? Guess what.' Commissioner Vanore comes back and says, we made two arrests.'The Commissioner says the department is still short 1,300 officers. He is hoping they can build on the increase they saw in recruitment numbers this year.The issues around the number of guns in the city continue to be a challeng
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