Crime in Philadelphia

Philadelphia consistently ranks above the national average in terms of crime, especially violent offenses. It has the highest violent crime rate of the ten American cities with a population greater than 1 million residents, as well as the highest poverty rate among these cities. It has been included in real estate analytics company NeighborhoodScout's "Top 100 Most Dangerous Cities in America" list every year since it has been compiled. Much of the crime is concentrated in the North, West, and Southwest sections of the city.

Philadelphia
Crime rates* (2014)
Violent crimes
Homicide 15.9
Forcible rape 77.4**
Robbery 447.2
Aggravated assault 481.1
Total violent crime 1021.4
Property crimes
Burglary 621.8
Larceny-theft 2398.5
Motor vehicle theft 367.4
Arson 25.6
Total property crime 3387.7
Notes

*Number of reported crimes per 100,000 population.

** Revised definition[1]

Source: FBI 2014 UCR data

Charles Ramsey, the police commissioner, has stated his goal to reduce the number of homicides by 100 per year.[2]

The legal entities responsible for maintaining law and order are:

Notable cases and incidents

  • Philadelphia Election Riot (1742)
  • Lombard Street Riot (1842) - Three-day race riot.
  • Philadelphia Nativist Riots (1844)
  • The Schuylkill Rangers - (mid-1800s) criminal gang - see Jimmy Haggerty
  • Kidnapping of Charley Ross (1874).
  • Willie Sutton "The Robin Hood of Brooklyn" (1930-50's) - Robbed most Philadelphia Banks, some twice, captured and tunneled out of Eastern State Penitentiary was recaptured and sent to Holmesburg Prison which he subsequently escaped from by ladder.
  • Philadelphia Poison Ring (1938) - At least 70 people poisoned with arsenic, several by their wives.
  • Philadelphia 1964 race riot (1964)
  • Marie Noe (1949–1968) - Murdered eight of her children.
  • Boy in the Box (1957) - Unidentified five-year-old boy found dead in a cardboard box.
  • Dolores Della Penna – 1972 abduction and dismemberment of Tacony teenager remains unsolved.
  • Carl Gugasian - "The Friday Night Bank Robber" (1972-2002) - Perhaps the most successful in American history - robbed banks up and down the east coast.
  • Ira Einhorn, "The Unicorn Killer" (1977) - Popular counterculture figure killed his girlfriend and hid her body in his closet.
  • Ed Savitz (1975-1992) - Sexual predator thought to have abused hundreds of teenage boys.
  • Mumia Abu-Jamal (1981) - Convicted for the murder of PPD officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981.
  • Joseph Kindler - Serial burglar convicted of 1982 murder, sentenced to death, escaped prison twice, extradited from Canada.[3]
  • MOVE (1978,1985) - Activist group which clashed with the PPD.
  • Frankford Slasher (1985–1990) - Thought to have killed several women. Never caught, though a prime suspect was known to police.
  • Gary M. Heidnik (1986–1987) - Kidnapped, imprisoned, raped, and tortured six women, two of whom he murdered.
  • Harrison Graham (1986–1987) - Killed seven women.
  • Raymond Carter (1988) - Convicted of killing Robert "Puppet" Harris; verdict overturned in 1996 due to likelihood of false testimony.
  • 39th District corruption scandal (1990s) - Police corruption which led to the overturning of 160-300 cases and release of 100 prisoners.
  • Lex Street Massacre (Dec. 28th, 2000)- 7 people were murdered in a crack house.[4]
  • Kidnapping and murder of Iriana DeJesus (2000) - Alexis Flores, suspect of the case, was added to FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2007.
  • Officer Thomas Bray's possible murder (November 13, 2001) - Bray died in a suspicious on-duty scuba diving incident the day after he testified against Sergeant Shawn Dougherty at a disciplinary hearing.[5][6] Bray's estate and mother, Genevieve, sued the city and federal government in federal court over Bray's death, settling for an amount that could not be determined from a summary Internet search.[7][8]
  • City Hall corruption scandal (2003-5) - mayor's office bugged by FBI, several convictions resulting.[9]
  • Antonio Rodriguez (late 2010-early 2011). Known as the Kensington Strangler, he murdered three women.
  • Fairmount Park Rapist. (2003–2007) Raped at least three women and murdered medical student Rebecca Park. Not caught.
  • Philadelphia basement kidnapping, October 2011, an ongoing investigation into alleged kidnapping of four mentally disabled adults, who were held in a Northeast Philadelphia basement.
  • Earl Bradley (?-2010) - Pediatrician charged with hundreds of sex crimes against children

Homicides

Year 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Homicides (city, number)[10] 332 402 427 460 489 505 450 423 437 400 433 412 409 340 335 325 309 288 348 330 375 406 391 331 302 306 326 331 246 248 280 277 311
Homicides (city, rate)[11] 44.3 43.5 41.6 44.3 42.6 41.7 37.5 35.2 36.4 33.3 36.8 34.3 34.8 25.8 29.4 26.5 20.4 18.9 23.3 22.2 25.6 27.7 27.3 23.0 19.5 19.6 21.2 21.5 15.9 15.9 17.9 17.4 21.1
Homicides (US, rate)[12] 11.7 12.9 10.4 11.1 10.8 10.5 9.2 8.7 9.0 8.2 9.2 7.6 7.5 6.0 6.1 5.9 5.6 5.6 5.7 5.5 5.7 5.8 5.7 5.4 5.0 4.8 4.7 4.7 4.5 4.4 4.9 5.1

Organized crime

Documentaries

See also

References

  1. ↑ "FBI".
  2. ↑ Ramsey’s goal: 100 fewer murders a year
  3. ↑ A 1982 murder, a capital sentence, two escapes and now, a reprieve from death row
  4. ↑ http://www.southphillyreview.com/news/lifestyles/79678342.html
  5. ↑ Boyer, Barbara. "Police diver dies retrieving buoy in Delaware River". philly.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2001-11-14.
  6. ↑ Soteropoulos, Jacqueline. "Sergeant charged in theft at Pier 34 Shawn Dougherty is accused of taking empty beer kegs from the collapse site and selling them to a distributor for $80". philly.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2002-01-17.
  7. ↑ "BRAY V. U.S. CIVIL ACTION NO. 03-5150. (E.D. PA. MAR. 14, 2005)". casetext.com. Casetext. Retrieved 2005-03-14.
  8. ↑ "ODMP Remembers Thomas M. Bray". odmp.org. Officer Down Memorial Page. Retrieved 2001-11-13.
  9. ↑ U.S. Bug in Mayor's Office Roils Philadelphia Race
  10. ↑ "Crime rate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA):". Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  11. ↑ "Crime rate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA):". Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  12. ↑ "Crime rate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA):". Retrieved 28 May 2017.


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